Clinical Follow-up of Professional Baseball Players Undergoing Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction Using the New Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Overhead Athlete Shoulder and Elbow Score (KJOC Score)

Background: There are no validated outcome measures consistently used in the literature to report results of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in overhead athletes.

Hypothesis: The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Overhead Athlete Shoulder and Elbow score (KJOC score) will correlate with other validated scores for upper extremity assessment but will be more accurate in evaluating ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction outcomes in professional baseball players.

Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2.

Methods: Fifty-five professional baseball players who underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction were asked to complete the KJOC score, the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score, and the DASH sports module. Players were separated into 3 categories—(1) playing without pain, (2) playing with pain, and (3) not playing because of pain—and compared with 123 asymptomatic throwers. Pearson (parametric) and Spearman rank (nonparametric) correlations among the 3 systems were conducted to validate the KJOC score. Means across categories were compared using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and a threshold score separating categories 1 and 3 was determined using receiver operator characteristic discrimination analysis.

Results: Significant correlations were found between the KJOC score and the DASH (−.693, P < .0001), and the DASH sports module (−0.804, P < .0001). Only the KJOC score was able to discriminate between categories 2 and 3, as well as category 1 and the uninjured population. In addition, the KJOC score was the most sensitive and accurate method of discriminating category 1 from category 3, with a threshold score of 81.3.

Conclusion: The results of this study validate the use of the KJOC score for evaluation of overhead athletes undergoing ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction. The KJOC score is the most sensitive score for detecting subtle changes in performance in the throwing athlete.