SCRIPT Anchor Lead: Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire 2010 season with an elbow injury. Glen Mueller reports on the procedure to repair the elbow. Package: It's spring and that means it's time for baseball again. But some of the top arms in the game are going to be missing from the mound. The reason? A torn ligament in their throwing elbow. How do you fix a torn ligament in your throwing elbow? Through a procedure known as Tommy John surgery. SOT: Uh, The Tommy John operation is to, um, reconstruct that ligament, to sew it back together and then put some other lig-tendons in there to reinforce it. Report: The procedure is named after former Major League pitcher Tommy John, who was the first person to undergo the operation. The ligament is damaged when a pitcher whips the ball forward in his delivery. SOT: We found that, uh, sewing it back together didn't give you the same integrity, not the same strength, and so what we do is do that, plus, um, then sync a tendon, usually the tendon from your wrist, um, there's a small one there that you don't use much, um, and put it into the bone, uh, on the uh, the humerus and then also into the bone on the forearm so it syncs going from bone to bone just like the ligament does. Standup: The best way to avoid Tommy John surgery is to practice proper mechanics. This starts at the Little League level. Report: It is recommended that Little Leaguers throw without arm whip to avoid damaging the ligament. I'm Glen Mueller, Daily Iowan TV.
SCRIPT
ReplyDeleteAnchor Lead: Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan will miss the entire 2010 season with an elbow injury. Glen Mueller reports on the procedure to repair the elbow.
Package: It's spring and that means it's time for baseball again. But some of the top arms in the game are going to be missing from the mound. The reason? A torn ligament in their throwing elbow. How do you fix a torn ligament in your throwing elbow? Through a procedure known as Tommy John surgery.
SOT: Uh, The Tommy John operation is to, um, reconstruct that ligament, to sew it back together and then put some other lig-tendons in there to reinforce it.
Report: The procedure is named after former Major League pitcher Tommy John, who was the first person to undergo the operation. The ligament is damaged when a pitcher whips the ball forward in his delivery.
SOT: We found that, uh, sewing it back together didn't give you the same integrity, not the same strength, and so what we do is do that, plus, um, then sync a tendon, usually the tendon from your wrist, um, there's a small one there that you don't use much, um, and put it into the bone, uh, on the uh, the humerus and then also into the bone on the forearm so it syncs going from bone to bone just like the ligament does.
Standup: The best way to avoid Tommy John surgery is to practice proper mechanics. This starts at the Little League level.
Report: It is recommended that Little Leaguers throw without arm whip to avoid damaging the ligament. I'm Glen Mueller, Daily Iowan TV.
Anchor Tag: Following Tommy John Surgery, it usually requires one year of rehab before a player can pitch again.
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