Background: Upper extremity injuries are common in wrestling, most of which do not require surgery. Methods: We retrospectively documented the case histories of six elite wrestlers who sustained elbow injuries that required surgical treatment, three of which involved reinjury and another surgical procedure. Results: All but one of the six initial injuries were associated with a defensive maneuver. Reinjury was more common for freestyle wrestling than for Greco-Roman style. The average time between the initial elbow injury and surgical intervention was 22 months. One-half of the wrestlers with elbow injuries that required surgery were reinjured and underwent revision surgery. Conclusions: All of the elite wrestlers waited for a long period of time before receiving surgery for the initial injury, and the reinjury rate was high.
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