Tommy John Surgery Advances: Faster Recovery and Enhanced Techniques

The evolution of Tommy John surgery introduces new methods to speed up recovery and improve outcomes, marking significant progress in sports medicine.

Dr. Jeffrey R. Dugas has developed a procedure that can reduce recovery time for some pitchers to as little as nine months, introducing innovations like collagen and stem cells.
The surgery, which has been performed over 2,400 times on professional baseball players, is seeing advancements such as the internal brace procedure to speed recovery.
Los Angeles Dodgers head team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache estimates that 80% of pitchers return to their prior performance level after the surgery.
Texas Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister has combined traditional ligament replacement with the internal brace in a hybrid procedure, showing promising results.
Rehabilitation techniques and innovations, including biomechanical sleeves and laser therapy, are also contributing to improved recovery processes.