Proximal Biceps Tendon Tear in an Adolescent Tennis Player

The diagnosis of a torn biceps tendon in athletes who use overhead throwing or swinging motions can be difficult to make because there is no one physical examination finding that will confirm the diagnosis, and because magnetic resonance imaging, although sometimes helpful, does not image the length of the biceps tendon adequately.

The English scientific literature was reviewed and no report of an isolated tear in the biceps tendon in an athletic individual younger than 18 years was found. We report a case of an isolated partial biceps tendon tear in an adolescent female athlete who was diagnosed during arthroscopy after the tendon was pulled into the joint. The tendon was cut and a tenodesis was performed. Two years after the surgical procedure, the patient was without pain and returned to playing tennis at her previous level.

To our knowledge, this case report is the first to confirm an isolated partial tear of the biceps tendon in a tennis player younger than 18 years and the first to be treated with a tenodesis. We found that an open, extra-articular biceps tenodesis provided an excellent result with pain-free full return to sport for our patient.