'Explosion' of Tommy John surgery, elbow injuries in young athletes, doctor says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Doctors say more and more athletes are in need of Tommy John surgery for elbow injuries, a procedure previously reserved for professionals.

Specialists from Midwest Orthopedics at RUSH University Medical Center are concerned about what they called an explosion of cases.

Tony Cantelo, a high school senior, was told he needed Tommy John surgery 11 months ago.

"It was very like sad to hear. You always hear about it. I've had many friends that have had it. And you always hear, oh everyone has it, but you don't realize that could happen to you until they say it," he said.

Going into a recent bullpen session he said he was a little sore, but right at the end he knew something was wrong.

"It felt like there was almost like a rope in my elbow and it just kind of like pulled apart, and I didn't know what exactly it was," he said.

A month later he was in the office at Midwest Orthopedics at RUSH, learning he had a torn ligament in his elbow.

Tony's doctor, Dr. Mark Cohen, is also a White Sox team physician. He said a third of all major league pitchers have had Tommy John surgery.

"There's just been an explosion of these injuries in these throwing athletes, and there's a variety of factors but it's almost at a point where it's an epidemic," he said.

Dr. Cohen said the fastest growing segment of patients needing Tommy John surgery are 15- to 19-year-olds. He said the common theme is overuse from single sport specialization and year-round throwing.

"The coaches have pressure to win. They want their best pitchers throwing. The kids want to throw because they want to be seen so they can get a college scholarship. There's so many forces pushing them back to the mound," he said.

Cantelo is still a couple months away from game action, but he's throwing every other day and still has his sights set on playing at the college level and beyond.