Abstract
Objectives: To determine the rate and type of injuries occurring to registered professional kickboxers in Victoria, Australia over a 16 year period.
Methods: Data describing all fight outcomes and injuries sustained during competition for the period August 1985 to August 2001 were obtained from the Victorian Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board.
Results: A total of 382 injuries were recorded from 3481 fight participations, at an injury rate of 109.7 injuries per 1000 fight participations. The most common body region injured was the head/neck/face (52.5%), followed by the lower extremities (39.8%). Specifically, injuries to the lower leg (23.3%), the face (19.4%), and intracranial injury (17.2%) were the most common. Over 64% of the injuries were superficial bruising or lacerations.
Conclusion: The nature of kickboxing, whereby kicking the opponent is the prime movement and the head a prime target, is reflected in the distributions of body regions most commonly injured by participants. Further research into injury patterns in different styles of kickboxing and the mechanism of injury occurrence is required. Exposure adjusted prospective studies are needed to monitor injury rates over time.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (156.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Birrer R. B., Halbrook S. P. Martial arts injuries. The results of a five year national survey. Am J Sports Med. 1988 Jul-Aug;16(4):408–410. doi: 10.1177/036354658801600418. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Birrer R. B., Levine R. Performance parameters in children and adolescent athletes. Sports Med. 1987 May-Jun;4(3):211–227. doi: 10.2165/00007256-198704030-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Birrer R. B. Trauma epidemiology in the martial arts. The results of an eighteen-year international survey. Am J Sports Med. 1996;24(6 Suppl):S72–S79. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Finch C. F. An overview of some definitional issues for sports injury surveillance. Sports Med. 1997 Sep;24(3):157–163. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199724030-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gartland S., Malik M. H., Lovell M. E. Injury and injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing. Br J Sports Med. 2001 Oct;35(5):308–313. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.35.5.308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lloyd T. W., Tyler M. P., Roberts A. H. Spontaneous rupture of extensor pollicis longus tendon in a kick boxer. Br J Sports Med. 1998 Jun;32(2):178–179. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.32.2.178. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McCrory P. R. Were you knocked out? A team physician's approach to initial concussion management. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997 Jul;29(7 Suppl):S207–S212. doi: 10.1097/00005768-199707001-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Saengsirisuwan V., Phadungkij S., Pholpramool C. Renal and liver functions and muscle injuries during training and after competition in Thai boxers. Br J Sports Med. 1998 Dec;32(4):304–308. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.32.4.304. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- van Mechelen W. The severity of sports injuries. Sports Med. 1997 Sep;24(3):176–180. doi: 10.2165/00007256-199724030-00006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]