{"pk":50606,"title":"Isolated Radial Collateral Ligament Thumb Tear in a Teenage Cheerleader Base: A Rare Injury from an Overhead Stunt","subtitle":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction</strong>: Radial collateral ligament injuries of the thumb are rare, especially in adolescent athletes. We present a case of a 17-year-old female cheerleader who sustained a complete radial collateral ligament tear while basing during a cheerleading stunt.</p>\n<p><strong>Case Report: </strong>The patient presented to the emergency department with pain in the right thumb after catching a falling flyer. Examination of the first metacarpophalangeal joint of the right thumb revealed tenderness and laxity. Radiographic imaging showed no fracture. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed a complete radial collateral ligament tear. She underwent surgical repair with full recovery.</p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion</strong>: This case highlights an uncommon thumb ligament injury in a non-traditional mechanism. Emergency physicians should consider radial collateral ligament tears in patients with metacarpophalangeal joint tenderness, even when radiographs are normal.</p>","language":"eng","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\r\n\r\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"stunting"},{"word":"thumb injury"},{"word":"radial collateral ligament"},{"word":"cheerleading"},{"word":"adolescent"}],"section":"Case Reports","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4ns2d0kx","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Russell","middle_name":"Andrew","last_name":"Baker","name_suffix":"","institution":"Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, El Paso, Texas","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2025-08-09T19:28:21.645000Z","date_accepted":"2025-10-20T16:08:19.888000Z","date_published":"2026-03-29T21:37:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/uciem_cpcem/article/50606/galley/49306/download/"}]}