Accelerated rehabilitation following thumb ulnar collateral ligament repair with suture tape augmentation: A case series of professional basketball players

Study Design: Case series. Introduction: Rehabilitation protocols following thumb metacarpophalangeal (MCP) ulnar collateral liga-ment (UCL) repair typically do not allow for return to sport until 12 weeks post-surgery. The potential for accelerated rehabilitation following thumb MCP UCL repair with suture tape augmentation has yet to be explored. Purpose of the Study: To describe the accelerated rehabilitation following thumb MCP UCL repair with the suture tape augmentation in professional basketball players. Methods: Three professional basketball players underwent thumb MCP UCL repair with suture tape aug-mentation. The athletes followed an accelerated rehabilitation program post-surgery that began with range-of-motion exercises at 2-3 days, proximal strengthening at 7-10 days, grip/pinch strengthening at 1-2 weeks, followed by progressive sport specific intervention with a custom orthosis. Results: At 5-6 weeks post-surgery, active thumb MCP range of motion returned to 83%-10 0%, grip strength to 81%-10 0%, and tripod pinch strength to 73%-78% of the contralateral side. All athletes suc-cessfully returned to sport within 5-6 weeks post-surgery. Discussion/Conclusion: This is the first clinical application of an accelerated rehabilitation protocol in ath-letes following thumb MCP UCL repair. In this series, professional basketball players were able to return to sport in half the routine recovery time. Further prospective studies re-thinking current rehabilitation protocols are warranted. (c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.