Health
Tommy John surgery continues to save baseball careers 50 years after its debut: 'Revolutionary'
It’s been nearly 50 years since one of the biggest advancements in sports medicine: Tommy John surgery.
On Sept. 25, 1974, Dr. Frank Jobe first performed the operation on Tommy John, a professional baseball pitcher who played on Major League Baseball (MLB) teams between 1963 and 1989.
During the surgery, Jobe reconstructed a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in John’s left arm.
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It was a pioneering achievement for Jobe and a lifeline for John, who went from a career-ending injury to 14 more years in the majors — and an eponymous connection to sports medicine that would live on long past his playing days.
Since then, Tommy John surgery — more formally known as ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine — has been performed on many other baseball players.
New York Yankees pitcher Tommy John delivering a pitch versus the Kansas City Royals during a game at Yankee Stadium on July 9, 1988, in New York. (Getty Images)
Those players include David Wells (1985), John Smoltz (2000), Stephen Strasburg (2010), Rich Hill (2011), Shohei Ohtani (2018), Justin Verlander (2020) and Bryce Harper (2022), to name a few, according to MLB.
“I wouldn’t still be standing here if it weren’t for a surgery like this,” Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech said, according to the Associated Press. “It’s doubled the length of my career.”
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John Gallucci, a New Jersey-based physical therapist specializing in sports injuries, noted that Tommy John surgery has prolonged and saved many careers.
“Before this surgery, a torn UCL was considered a career-ending injury,” he told Fox News Digital.
“This surgery was a major advancement in treatment and was revolutionary for athletes and those who suffer from elbow injuries.”
Dr. Frank Jobe, orthopedic surgeon and Los Angeles Dodgers team physician, pioneered elbow ligament replacement and shoulder surgery for baseball players, a procedure commonly known today as Tommy John surgery. Jobe is pictured here in 1997. (Getty Images)
Alongside arthroscopic surgery and ACL reconstruction, Tommy John surgery is one of the biggest advancements in sports medicine in the last 50 years, according to Dr. Tim Kremchek, a longtime physician for the Cincinnati Reds.
“It [has] just prolonged and saved so many careers,” he said to the AP.
“Not just in baseball, but now for some other sports that we’re doing it for — so many other athletes, especially overhead athletes. But in terms of baseball, I think it’s allowed us to see some of the greatest players in the world continue to play for a long period of time.”
“It’s allowed us to see some of the greatest players in the world continue to play for a long period of time.”
In the debut operation at Rancho Los Amigos, a Southern California hospital, Jobe removed the palmaris longus tendon from John’s right arm, drilled four holes in his left elbow — and then used the tendon to replace the torn ligament.
“It wasn’t a new idea,” Jobe said in July 2013, about seven months before he died.
“It was just new for the elbow.”
In the first procedure, Jobe removed the palmaris longus tendon from John’s right arm, drilled four holes in his left elbow, and then used the tendon to replace the torn ligament (not pictured). (iStock)
The procedure itself hasn’t changed much since Jobe pioneered it, though doctors have made a few improvements.
“It has remained primarily the same, but advancements have been made,” said Gallucci.
“These advancements have made the surgery even more effective in tandem with work from physical therapists and certified athletic trainers during the recovery process.”
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“Due to the advancements made and the rehabilitation process improvements, the standard recovery period has been cut nearly in half from what it was 50 years ago,” he added.
The effects of Tommy John surgery have been seen in players’ performance on the field.
Verlander won the AL Cy Young Award in 2022, two years after he had Tommy John surgery.
Tommy John of the New York Yankees is pictured prior to the start of a Major League Baseball game circa 1987 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. (Getty Images)
Harper, who had the procedure in Nov. 2022, returned to Philadelphia’s lineup in May.
Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow, who had Tommy John in 2021, struck out 162 batters in a career-high 120 innings last year.
Within months of receiving his second major elbow operation, Ohtani landed a record-breaking $700 million contract from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“There’s no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is.”
“If you put it in dollars and cents, I think there’s no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is,” Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the head team physician for the Dodgers and the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, told the AP.
Despite its high success rate, the main challenge associated with the surgery has been the extended recovery and rehabilitation process.
For about 10 days after the surgery, the patient must wear a cast at a 90-degree angle.
“It wasn’t a new idea,” Jobe said in July 2013, about seven months before he died. “It was just new for the elbow.” (Getty Images)
It then takes months for the player to regain a full range of motion, and usually at least a year before returning to the field.
“Although this surgery was revolutionary, the road to recovery is no easy process — and that is where physical therapy comes into play,” said Gallucci, who has seen patients throughout the years in rehab from Tommy John surgery.
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“It requires commitment from the patient, as it is no easy feat,” he said.
“Although it takes a few months of rehab and slowly increasing strengthening exercises, I have seen patients make a full recovery and be able to play again.”
Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who had surgery on Sept. 1, recalled his first day of throwing after the operation.
Tommy John, the 4-time All Star pitcher who won 288 games, is pictured at right with Tommy John III, a chiropractor in sports medicine. (Getty Images)
“It was like 30 throws, nice and easy, and just felt super foreign, like I’d never thrown before,” he said, as the AP reported. “Took some video on it, and they did not look pretty at all. Then I threw a couple [of] days later and it felt much better.”
Approaching the 50th anniversary of the surgery, Gonsolin said he is grateful for the medical advancement that started with Tommy John in 1974.
“I think the evolution of the surgery and just the sheer medical breakthrough from it allows [it] to extend people’s careers,” he said.
“It gives everybody a second opportunity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Health
Possible hantavirus case under investigation in upstate New York; no connection to deadly cruise ship outbreak
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A “suspected” hantavirus case in upstate New York is being investigated, according to the Ontario County Public Health Department (OCPHD) based in Canandaigua.
The department announced in a Facebook post Thursday that it is currently “investigating a suspected locally acquired hantavirus case.”
“There is NO connection to the cruise ship outbreak, and there is no risk to the general public,” OCPHD officials wrote.
The investigation comes as global health officials continue monitoring a rare hantavirus outbreak tied to the MV Hondius luxury cruise ship that has sickened multiple passengers and crew members and left three people dead.
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As of May 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 11 hantavirus cases had been identified in connection with the cruise outbreak, including eight confirmed cases, two probable cases and one inconclusive case. Three deaths have also been linked to the outbreak.
Health officials have emphasized that hantavirus infections remain rare and that the risk to the general public is low.
Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus is considered extremely rare and has only been suspected in certain strains, including the Andes hantavirus strain linked to the cruise ship outbreak.
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A passenger wearing a face mask and blue protective gown gives a thumbs up inside a bus after disembarking from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, on May 10. (Manu Fernandez/AP Photo)
“Hantavirus infections are rare in New York,” the OCPHD said. “The virus is spread through mouse and rodent droppings, especially when urine, feces, or nesting materials become aerosolized during cleaning.”
The OCPHD urged residents to take precautions when cleaning enclosed spaces where rodents may be present, including wearing gloves and masks when opening or cleaning attics, cabins, sheds and garages.
The OCPHD and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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A 3D illustration shows the structure of hantavirus, an RNA virus transmitted to humans through rodent excreta that can cause severe illnesses including hemorrhagic fever, renal disease and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. (iStock)
The cruise ship outbreak has prompted heightened precautions internationally.
In the Netherlands, Radboud University Medical Center quarantined 12 staff members after officials said a hantavirus patient’s blood and urine were not handled under the strictest international protocols required for the specific virus strain.
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Hospital officials said the risk of infection to staff remained low but called the quarantine a precautionary measure.
The outbreak aboard the MV Hondius began after a Dutch cruise ship carrying 147 passengers and crew departed Argentina on April 1 for a South Atlantic voyage.
According to the WHO, investigators believe the initial infection may have stemmed from rodent exposure during birdwatching excursions before boarding the ship.
Fox News Digital’s Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
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A common over-the-counter medication combined with a home exercise program could help ease cognitive issues for cancer patients.
That’s according to a study from the University of Rochester, which tested the effects of physical activity and low-dose ibuprofen on patients receiving chemotherapy treatment.
“Chemo brain” (also called chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment, or CRCI) is a known side effect of cancer treatment that can affect memory, concentration and multitasking ability. Up to 80% of people who receive chemo experience some degree of cognitive impairment, previous studies have shown.
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Rochester’s phase 2 trial studied 86 adult cancer patients in New York undergoing chemotherapy who were experiencing cognitive problems. The average age was 53 and nearly 89% of participants were women, according to a university press release.
Participants who took only ibuprofen also showed greater cognitive improvements than the placebo group. (IStock)
Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group participated in home exercise designed specifically for cancer patients, a second group combined the exercises with ibuprofen (200 milligrams, or one pill, twice a day), the third group took ibuprofen alone and a fourth took a placebo alone.
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The exercise program consisted of low to moderate-intensity activity, including progressive walking and training with resistance bands.
“This is one of the first studies specifically designed to assess these interventions for cancer-related cognitive impairment during chemotherapy in patients with multiple diseases using both performance-based cognitive assessments and patient-reported outcomes,” said lead author Michelle C. Janelsins, Ph.D., MPH, of the University of Rochester and the Wilmot Cancer Institute, in the press release.
Up to 80% of people who receive chemo experience some degree of cognitive impairment.
After six weeks, exercise was linked to the clearest improvements in attention and cognitive function, according to input from family and friends. Those in the group who combined exercise and placebo showed better attention levels compared to those who took just a placebo.
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Participants who took only ibuprofen also showed greater cognitive improvements than the placebo group.
The findings suggest that ibuprofen may provide some improvement in cognitive function, although the benefits appeared to be smaller and less consistent than those seen with exercise.
“Chemo brain” (also called chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment, or CRCI) is a known side effect of cancer treatment that can affect memory, concentration and multitasking ability. (iStock)
This suggests that inflammation may contribute to cancer-related cognitive impairment, and that anti-inflammatory medications could be an effective therapeutic approach.
“We are encouraged by the findings of this trial that suggest possible benefits of both interventions for some cognitive domains,” Janelsins said. “Clearly, we saw a more pronounced effect with exercise, which is notable considering the multiple health benefits of exercise for cancer survivors.”
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No adverse side effects were reported during the trial.
The findings were published in Cancer, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
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There were some limitations of the study, the researchers noted, including the small sample size and short duration. The effects were also not consistent across every measure of cognitive function.
As the majority of participants were women, the findings may not be generalized to broader populations.
“Clearly, we saw a more pronounced effect with exercise, which is notable considering the multiple health benefits of exercise for cancer survivors,” the researcher said. (iStock)
Researchers are planning larger phase 3 trials to confirm whether ibuprofen and exercise can effectively improve chemo-related cognitive impairment.
“Since we saw cognitive benefits in some domains and not others, we will also consider additional doses and longer durations in future research trials,” said Janelsins.
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Investigators emphasized that patients should speak with their oncology team before starting ibuprofen or exercise interventions during chemotherapy, as certain treatments or medical conditions could increase the risk of side effects and complications.
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