[Return to throwing sports after upper extremity injury and overuse : A criteria-based approach using an ulnar collateral ligament injury as an example].

BACKGROUND: Uniform procedures for rehabilitation and follow-up treatment after injuries and surgeries at the upper extremity do not exist. Accordingly, only a few approaches for the follow-up treatment of instabilities of the elbow joint have been described.

OBJECTIVES: The authors show how rehabilitation before sport-specific training after rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament in a female handball player was objectivized and controlled using the results of functional tests.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The follow-up treatment of a semi-professional female handball player (aged 20) after rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament was objectivized and controlled using the return to activity algorithm. In addition to the comparisons with the values of the unaffected side, comparative results of 14 uninjured female handball players were used for guidance.

RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The patient was able to participate fully in sport-specific training after 15 weeks and participate in her first competitive match after 20 weeks. On the affected side, she achieved a distance of 118% of her upper limb length on the medial reach of the upper quarter Y balance test and 63 valid contacts on the wall hop test. The values achieved at the end of rehabilitation were higher than the average values of the control group.