Visual Observation of Apparent Infraspinatus Muscle Atrophy in Male Professional Tennis Players.

Background: Previous studies have reported visually observed apparent muscle atrophy in the infraspinous fossa of the dominant arm of overhead athletes. Several mechanisms have been proposed as etiological factors, including eccentric overload, compressive spinoglenoid notch paralabral cysts, and cumulative tensile suprascapular neurapraxia.

Purpose: To report the prevalence of apparent infraspinatus atrophy in male professional tennis players and to determine whether the suspected atrophy correlates with objectively measured weakness of external rotation.

Epidemiology of injuries in tennis players.

Purpose Of Review: To review the recent literature regarding the epidemiology of tennis injuries at all levels of play, and to discuss recent findings in injury surveillance by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

Recent Findings: Following the release of a consensus statement in 2009 calling for standardized documentation and analysis of tennis-related injuries, multiple studies have been published describing longitudinal injury incidences at Grand Slam tournaments and the Davis Cup. Recent efforts by the ATP have further elucidated injury patterns on tour.

Tennis injuries: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment.

Tennis places high loads on the joints of players, with supraphysiologic forces being generated at the shoulder and elbow hundreds of times per match. Acute injuries tend to affect the lower extremity; chronic injuries usually involve the upper extremity. Commonly encountered upper extremity conditions include rotator cuff injury, internal impingement, superior labral tears, and epicondylitis of the elbow.