Elbow injuries in the youth athlete.

Elbow injuries are common in sports that involve throwing, overhead activity, and upper extremity weight-bearing, including baseball, volleyball, football, javelin throwing, and gymnastics. Although acute injuries of the elbow are somewhat common in pediatric patients, overuse injuries in youth athletes are very prevalent. Elbow pain in baseball players aged 9 to 12 years has been found to range from 20% to 40% of baseball injuries.1 Increases in overuse elbow injuries are related to single sport concentration, longer competitive seasons and year-round sports participation, inadequate rest, and poor biomechanics. This article will focus on common overuse injuries in young athletes.