In 1974, a professional baseball pitcher by the name of Tommy John suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament, located in his arm, which could have forced his retirement. Desperate for a fix, Tommy John enlisted the help of Dr. Frank Jobe who was instructed to invent a surgery that would repair the damaged ligament. The procedure that Dr. Frank Jobe created would save Tommy John’s career along with many other pitcher’s careers over the course of history. Tommy John returned to baseball after the surgery and won 170 games after his return. Because of his on-field success after the groundbreaking surgery, the procedure has come to be known as Tommy John surgery.

The Procedure

The first surgery that was performed on Tommy John involved using a ligament from Tommy John’s right arm as a replacement for the torn ligament in his left. The ligament was secured by threading it through holes that were made in the bones of the left arm. More than 200 of these procedures have been performed by Dr. Frank Jobe since the first one on Tommy John. The ligament that is taken as a replacement is similar to the tonsil in that it is present in the body, but has no useful function. Twelve percent of the people who have Tommy John surgery are missing the replacement ligament in their arms and in this case, a ligament from the leg or a toe is substituted.

Therapy

Recovery time has improved over the years as the surgery and post surgery techniques have been refined. Tommy John’s original surgery lasted for four hours whereas today’s surgery takes only one and a half hours to complete. Tommy John spent 16 months in a cast after his surgery whereas today’s patients begin rehabilitation soon after completion of surgery. Patients begin to move their wrists as soon as a week after surgery. Pitchers typically undergo therapy for a year and are not allowed to return to actual game competition during this time. Recovery time for non-players is faster since the average person does not put as much stress on their arms as a professional athlete.

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