Tommy John surgery has been the standard answer for a torn UCL since 1974. A 2025 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine compared it against UCL repair with internal brace in 461 competitive athletes. Both performed well. The take-home is that these are two good operations, and the value is in matching the right one to the right patient.

After a sports medicine fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, Dr. Josh Eskew is back in Greenville, where his orthopedic training began.