title: Upper extremity blood flow in collegiate and high school baseball pitchers A preliminary report.
abstract: The arterial and venous volume blood flow in the dominant and nondominant upper extremities of five male pitchers, ages 16 to 21, was measured using color flow duplex ultrasound. Blood-flow measurements were obtained at baseline, after warm-up, and after each sequence of 20 pitches until 100 pitches were thrown. Blood flow was additionally determined 1 hour after the last pitch. The velocity of each pitch was recorded with a speed gun. Anthropomorphic measurements of the upper extremity were obtained at baseline and immediately after Pitch 100 using a standard measuring tape. The highest average arterial volume flow in the pitching arm occurred after 40 pitches, reaching a peak of 549 ml/min (56% increase from baseline). Thereafter, the average arterial blood flow steadily declined, reaching an average of 402 ml/min after the 100th pitch (14% increase from baseline). In contrast, the arterial blood flow in the nonpitching arm increased only slightly from baseline, reaching a maximal volume flow of 448 ml/min immediately after the warm-up period (10% increase from baseline). The volume flow then persistently fell to a level 30% below baseline after the 100th pitch. Although this small pilot study does not demonstrate causation between a decline in pitching performance and arterial blood flow, it suggests arterial flow in the dominant extremity falls as the pitch count increases.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, School of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Los Angeles 90033-4612, USA.
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bast
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poppiti
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Vangsness
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Weaver
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001484:Baseball / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex