Moderate and Severe Injuries at Five International Olympic-Style Wrestling Tournaments during 2016-2019

As a contact sport, wrestling may result in injuries. Based on the severity, they are classified as mild, moderate, severe and critical. All injuries occurring at international competitions are documented in a cloud-based surveillance system. The purpose of this study was to analyze the incidence and characteristics of moderate and severe (including critical) wrestling injuries that occurred during five international Olympic-style wrestling competitions in 2016-2019. Three Wrestling World Championships and two European Wrestling tournaments were organized by the Hungarian Wrestling Federation in 2016-2019. A total of 2483 wrestlers in three Olympic wrestling styles have competed in 3007 matches. Data from all injuries were recorded and analyzed to define rates, locations, types and severity, and to compare with previous reports. A total of 53 wrestlers sustained 55 injuries, which is equivalent to an overall injury incidence rate of 9.1‰ (9.1/1000 athletic exposures). Greco-Roman and Women Wrestling had the same injury incidence rate, while Freestyle had a lower one (9.5‰ versus 8.5‰). The injury proportion by regions and anatomic locations were on head and face 29.1%, spine and trunk 16.4 % and the upper-and-lower extremity injuries equally 27.3%. The most common types of injuries included ligament lesions, joint injuries, skin lacerations, and contusions. Five wrestlers (0.8‰) sustained strangulation or concussion. Wrestling injury rates during United World Wrestling competitions are not high, but when happen they can be serious. Despite relatively low incidence rate of injuries, there is a need for continuous education for medical teams, referees and coaches to avoid wrestling injuries.

Comparison of Previously Injured Body Regions in Elite Freestyle and Greco-Roman Wrestlers

The aim of this study was to compare the injured body regions that elite Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers suffered from and to determine the importance of injuries. 41 Freestyle and 51 Greco-Roman wrestlers, who were practicing in Turkish National Wrestling Team camps, participated in this study. ‘Chi Square’ and student t tests were used in statistical analyses. When examined injury status and body regions distribution between Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestlers, significant difference was found in head and trunk injuries according to wrestling styles (p<0.05). No difference was found in upper/lower extremities and lesion/scrape and friction burns status of the wrestlers according to wrestling style (p>0.05). There was significant difference in trunk and upper extremity injuries with respect to weight category (p<0.05 and p<0.001). Significant difference was also found in nose injuries according to wrestling styles (p<0.05). When examined wrestling style and upper extremity injuries according to the number of injuries, there was found significant difference between two styles in muscle injuries, finger and wrist injuries (p<0.05). The difference between toe injuries in respect to the wrestling style was statistically significant (p<0.05). Results: Greco-Roman wrestlers experienced more injuries in trunk, head and nose compared to Freestyle wrestlers. Trunk, lower and upper extremity injuries varied depending on weight categories. Neck, back, lumbar and chest injuries were more common in Greco-Roman wrestlers. Freestyle wrestlers were more vulnerable to muscle injuries while Greco-Roman wrestlers were more vulnerable to finger and wrist injuries. It is recommended to improve some abilities excellently such as aerobic power, strength, balance and neuro-motor coordination in wrestling. Techniques should be taught well to the wrestlers, most risky extremities for injury have to be applied extra training and these extremities should be protected from injuries by several tapes, bandages or gears during exercise. Freestyle wrestlers ought to be more careful in diving move. Using ear protector in addition to preventive measures can be recommended during training in order to prevent temporal bone fractures and swellings.

Analysis of Sports Injury in Lower Extremities of High School Taekwondo Athletes

Sports injuries frequently occur in athletes during competitive activities and practice routines, and the causes include cumulative fatigue from repetitive training, lack of warm-up exercises, and absence of motivation during competition. We aimed to determine the frequency and characteristics of lower extremity injuries in high school Taekwondo athletes. This study evaluated lower extremity sports injuries in 473 high school Taekwondo athletes. We conducted frequency and cross analyses. The questionnaire tools were developed to identify the characteristics of lower extremity injuries in Taekwondo athletes. Results: For injury by person, thigh injuries and re-injuries were most frequent. In non-contact injury, ankle injuries and re-injuries were most numerous. In the men’s lightweight category, thighs were injured the most in injury by person and ankles suffered the most non-contact injuries. In the men’s heavyweight category, the number of knee injuries was highest in injury by person, and the number of ankle injuries was highest in non-contact injury. In the women’s lightweight category, thighs suffered a higher number of injuries by person, whereas ankles had the highest number of non-contact injuries. In the women’s heavyweight category, thighs had the highest number of injuries by persons, whereas ankles had the highest number of non-contact injuries. The causes of ankle injury in weight classes were different in the two sexes. Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed that the sports damage suffered by student athletes mainly occurs as injuries in training situations without opponents. Our findings could help formulate basic guidelines for preventing sports injury in Taekwondo.

Epidemiology of Pediatric Baseball and Softball Player Injuries

Background: Baseball and softball are popular sports in the United States and are responsible for a large number of youth sports injuries each year. Purpose: To investigate recent differences in youth baseball and softball injuries evaluated in nationwide emergency departments. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) database was examined for softball and baseball injuries in pediatric patients (age, 7-21 years) from 2010 through 2019. Patients were classified as children (age, 7-13 years), adolescents (age, 14-18 years), or young adults (age, 19-21 years). Case narratives were used to categorize injuries as contact injuries (hit by bat or ball), field injuries (sliding into base, collision with another player, catching, or running), throwing injuries, or other. Results: An unweighted total of 24,717 baseball injuries and 13,162 softball injuries were recorded. A nationwide estimate of 861,456 baseball injuries and 511,117 softball injuries were sustained during the studied time period, with estimated respective injury rates of 86,146 and 51,112 per year. Injured softball players were most commonly adolescent (47%) and female (92%), while injured baseball players were most commonly children (54%) and male (90%). There was a greater proportion of baseball-related injuries involving the head/neck (41%) as compared with softball-related injuries (30%) ( P < .01). Conversely, a greater proportion of softball-related injuries involved the lower extremity (32%) as compared with baseball-related injuries (19%) ( P < .01). When comparing diagnosis, softball injuries were more often sprains/strains (28%) than baseball injuries (18%) ( P < .01). When comparing mechanisms of injury, baseball athletes were more likely to be evaluated with contact injuries than were softball athletes (49% vs 40%, P < .01). Conclusion: Youth baseball athletes were more likely to be injured through contact mechanisms and had a higher proportion of injuries related to the head/neck/face, whereas softball injuries more frequently involved the lower extremity and resulted in a sprain/strain. League guidelines should focus on reducing contact injuries within youth baseball, and injury-prevention programs should focus on reducing lower extremity injuries in youth softball.

Development of mine-blast trauma severity score for lower extremities in men

This study presented the results of the analysis of existing approaches to the assessment of the severity of lower extremity injuries protected with explosion-proof shoes in case of mine-explosive ammunition explosion. An increasing number of mine explosives are used in modern local wars and armed conflicts. At present, more than 110 million mines are planted and activated. Every year, nearly 10 thousand individuals are killed by explosive demolitions, and more than 20 thousand civilians sustain injuries. The necessity to clear minefields and to destroy located ammunition increases the risks of mine clearance specialists to mine-blast trauma of the lower extremities. To reduce the likelihood of severe trauma in this population, developing effective blast protective equipment, such as anti-mine boots, is necessary. The effectiveness evaluation of protective boots requires special methodology that should comprise relevant methods of mine-blast trauma severity estimation. Mine-blast trauma is a special type of surgical pathology where the injured individual has extremity avulsion or multiple injuries to extremity tissues accompanied by severe impairment of body functions. Almost all available domestic classifications of mine-explosive wounds have a pronounced clinical orientation, and foreign ones have terminologies that are not accepted in Russia and cannot be fully used for assessment purposes. The modified working classification, in the form of a rating scale, showed not only the characteristics of a given blast trauma but also the criteria of trauma severity estimation and feasibility of exposure to blast trauma. The results of the study demonstrated the potential for its use to estimate the protective features of mine clearance specialist boots when exposed to charge explosion, as well as recommendations to include this classification in documenting the science and technology that deal with the general specifications of protective equipment for specialists at the project stage.