Query: contact sport injuries

title: Contact sport related head and neck injuries in pediatric athletes.
abstract: To describe the type and frequency of sports related pediatric head and neck trauma.  The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) was searched for football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse and ice hockey related facial injuries. Cross sectional analysis of incidence, age, and sex and specific injury diagnoses, mechanisms, and facial locations were performed. We focused on craniofacial and soft tissue injuries and excluded patients with concussion or other neurological injuries.  A total of 24,905 cases were identified in the NEISS database, corresponding to an estimated, 764,293 emergency department visits. The most hazardous sports were basketball, accounting for 356,188 visits (46.6% football with 249,633 visits (32.6% and soccer with 128,113 (14.7% visits. Lacrosse and ice hockey accounted for 16,869 (1.9% and 13,490 (1.5% visits, respectively. There has been a decrease in injuries over the past 10 years, particularly for football (53% ice hockey (46% and lacrosse (41% Soccer (13% and basketball (9% noticed the smallest decreases.  Children who play basketball, football and soccer are especially prone to emergency department visits related to the head and neck. Overall, there has been an improvement in number of injuries across the five sports investigated. Sports amenable to head and neck protective equipment saw the largest improvement (football, ice hockey, lacrosse) whereas only small decreases were noted in basketball and soccer. Changes in regulations for sports not amenable to more protective equipment may help decrease adverse events.

title: Prevalence of Traumatic Dental Injuries among Contact Sport Practitioners in Northeast of Iran in 2012
abstract: Contact sports may lead to dental injures, which may often be prevented by using mouthguards. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of traumatic dental injuries (TDI) in professional contact sport athletes and to determine the awareness regarding use of mouthguards in this group.  A questionnaire containing a number of questions regarding the demographic data of participants, experiences of trauma and their behavior after that and use of mouthguard, was distributed amongst 100 contact sport athletes.  eighty athletes returned the questionnaire. The age range of most of the participants (44.2% was between 20 30 .Also most of them had been practicing in contact sports for 1 to 5 years (37.3% 26.2% of the athletes had experienced some sort of dental trauma. There was no significant difference between the injuries in males and females (p> 0.05) Luxation injuries were the most common type of TDI (47.7% followed by crown fractures (42.1% and avulsion (10.5% 89.7% of athletes had already been informed about using mouthguards, however only 10.3% reported having used them.  According to the results of this study, the rate of TDI among contact sport practitioners in Iran is high; however the use of mouthguards by athletes is low. Dentists and sports authorities should promote the use of mouthguards in contact sports to decreases the risk of dental trauma and tooth loss.

title: Cumulative Sport Related Injuries and Longer Term Impact in Retired Male Elite and Amateur Level Rugby Code Athletes and Non contact Athletes: A Retrospective Study
abstract: Rugby union and rugby league are popular team contact sports, but they bring a high risk of injury. Although previous studies have reported injury occurrence across one or several seasons, none have explored the total number of injuries sustained across an entire career. As the first to do so, the aim of this study was to report on cumulative injuries and their perceived long term impact in retired rugby code athletes compared to athletes from non contact sports. One hundred and eighty nine former rugby code athletes (rugby union n 145; rugby league n 44) and 65 former non contact athletes were recruited to the UK Rugby Health Project between September 2016 and December 2018. Details on sports participation, sports injuries and concussion history, sports injury related surgeries, and previous and current health were obtained from a validated, online self report questionnaire. Former elite rugby code athletes (n 83) reported more total injuries per player (median 39, IQR 35) than former amateur rugby code athletes (n 106; median 23, IQR 30; p 0.014) and non contact sports athletes (n 65; median 7.5, IQR 15; p 0.001) Concussion was the most frequently reported injury for the elite and amateur rugby code groups, followed by upper/lower back and knee ligament injuries. These injuries also presented with the highest recurrence. Rugby code groups reported a higher continued impact of previous concussion, neck injuries, shoulder dislocation, ACL tears, and knee ligament injuries (p 0.003 0.045) The reported prevalence of osteoarthritis was more than twofold greater in the elite rugby code group than in non contact athletes (51% v 22% p 0.001) The prevalence of back pain and/or severe and regular joint pain was high across all groups (47 80% particularly the elite rugby code group. The total number of joint injuries and sport injury related surgeries was higher in those who reported current osteoarthritis and current severe and regular joint pain (p 0.001 p 0.028) Across multiple injury types, past participation in rugby union and rugby league, particularly at elite level, is associated with a high cumulative injury load and a continued impact of previous injuries post retirement. Given the high number of reported concussions (and their recurrence) and associations between previous injuries during a player's career and current musculoskeletal conditions, efforts should be prioritized to reduce the occurrence and recurrence of injuries in rugby codes at all levels of the sport. Strategies should also be developed for supporting the specific physical health needs of rugby code athletes post retirement.

title: Contact sport injuries of major nature: diagnosis and treatment.

title: Contact sport injuries of major nature: diagnosis and treatment.

title: [Sport injuries in full contact and semi contact karate]
abstract: Karate enjoys great popularity both in professional and recreational sports and can be classified into full, half and low contact styles. The aim of this study was the analysis of sports injuries in Kyokushinkai (full contact) and traditional Karate (semi contact) METHODS In a retrospective study design, 215 active amateur karateka (114 full contact, 101 semi contact) were interviewed by means of a standardised questionnaire regarding typical sport injuries during the last 36 months. Injuries were categorised into severity grade I (not requiring medical treatment) grade II (single medical treatment) grade III (several outpatient medical treatments) and grade IV (requiring hospitalisation) RESULTS In total, 217 injuries were reported in detail. 125 injuries (58% occurred in full contact and 92 (42% in semi contact karate. The time related injury rate of full contact karateka was 1.9/1000 h compared to 1.3/1000 h of semi contact karateka (p 0.05) The most common types of injuries were musculoskeletal contusions (33% full contact, 20% semi contact) followed by articular sprains with 19% and 16% The lower extremity was affected twice as often in full contact (40% as in semi contact (20% karate. Training injuries were reported by 80% of the full contact and 77% of the semi contact karateka. Most injuries, both in training and competition, occurred in kumite. 75% of the reported injuries of full contact and 70% of semi contact karateka were classified as low grade (I or II)  The high rate of injuries during training and kumite (sparring) points to specific prevention goals. The emphasis should be put on proprioceptive training and consistent warm up. In the actual competition the referees play a vital role regarding prevention.

title: Incidence of Sport Related Internal Organ Injuries Due to Direct Contact Mechanisms Among High School and Collegiate Athletes Across 3 National Surveillance Systems.
abstract: Although sport related internal organ injuries among athletes are relatively infrequent, combining data sources enables a more comprehensive examination of their incidence.  To describe the incidence and characteristics of sport related internal organ injuries due to direct contact mechanisms among high school (HS) and collegiate athletes from 2005 2006 through 2014 2015.  Descriptive epidemiology study.  United States HS and collegiate sports data from 3 national sports injury surveillance systems: High School Reporting Information Online (HS RIO) the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) and the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.  High school and collegiate athletes in organized sports.  Characteristics of the athlete, event, and injury were examined and stratified by data source and sport. Descriptive statistics of internal organ injuries via direct contact mechanisms consisted of frequencies and incidence rates (IRs) per 1 000 000 athlete exposures and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)  During the 10 year period, 174 internal organ injuries were captured: 124 in HS RIO and 41 in the ISP; 9 were catastrophic. Most noncatastrophic injuries occurred among males (RIO 85% ISP 89% in football (RIO 65% ISP 58% and during competitions (RIO 67% ISP 49% and were due to player player contact (RIO 78% ISP 68% The highest injury rates were in male contact sports: RIO football (IR 11.7; 95% CI 9.1, 14.2) and lacrosse (IR 10.0; 95% CI 3.1, 16.9) ISP: football (IR 8.3; 95% CI 5.0, 11.6) and ice hockey (IR 7.9; 95% CI 1.0, 14.7) A quarter of noncatastrophic injuries were season ending (RIO 25% ISP 23% Of the 9 catastrophic injuries, most occurred in HS (7/9) and football (7/9) and were due to player player contact (6/9) Four resulted in death.  Direct contact internal organ injuries occur infrequently; yet when they do occur, they may result in severe outcomes. These findings suggest that early recognition and a better understanding of the activities associated with the event and use or nonuse of protective equipment are needed.

title: Concussive and subconcussive brain trauma: the complexity of impact biomechanics and injury risk in contact sport.
abstract: Head impacts that transfer mechanical energy to the skull and create brain injuries have unique dynamic responses and brain tissue trauma characteristics. The magnitude of the impact energy and how it is transmitted creates three dimensional linear and rotational accelerations of the head, resulting in unique strains on brain tissue. Biomechanical investigations of head injuries in contact sports have historically focused on attenuating energy transfer to the skull and brain. Typically, severe life threatening events are caused by high energy impact events that result in anatomic damage. Protective equipment attenuates energy transmission to neural tissues to decrease the risk of structural damage. In addition to reducing risk of skull fracture, helmets work by increasing impact compliance, to decrease the magnitude of the head's dynamic response and increase the duration of the event. This strategy helps prevent severe traumatic brain injuries and shifts the risk to concussion and repetitive head impact exposure. Metabolic, cellular, and physiologic responses characterize cumulative brain trauma that may manifest years later. Relying on the presence of symptoms to establish injury is subjective and limited in capturing the risks associated with neural tissue trauma. To more effectively capture brain injury risks in contact sports, we present the concept of brain trauma profiling, involving impact magnitude, frequency, interval, and duration of exposure. Brain trauma profiling captures and describes the cumulative and acute trauma associated injury risks unique to each sport, level of play, and player position.

title: The Individual and Combined Effects of Multiple Factors on the Risk of Soft Tissue Non contact Injuries in Elite Team Sport Athletes
abstract: Relationships between athlete monitoring derived variables and injury risk have been investigated predominantly in isolation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the individual and combined effects of multiple factors on the risk of soft tissue non contact injuries in elite team sport athletes.  Fifty five elite Australian footballers were prospectively monitored over two consecutive seasons. Internal and external training load was quantified using the session rating of perceived exertion and GPS/accelerometry, respectively. Cumulative load and acute to chronic workload ratios were derived using rolling averages and exponentially weighted moving averages. History of injuries in the current and previous seasons was recorded along with professional experience, weekly musculoskeletal screening, and subjective wellness scores for individual athletes. Individual and combined effects of these variables on injury risk were evaluated with generalized linear mixed models.  High cumulative loads and acute to chronic workload ratios were associated with increased risk of injuries. The effects for measures derived using exponentially weighted moving averages were greater than those for rolling averages. History of a recent injury, long term experience at professional level, and substantial reductions in a selection of musculoskeletal screening and subjective wellness scores were associated with increased risk. The effects of high cumulative loads were underestimated by ~20% before adjusting for previous injuries, whereas the effects of high acute to chronic workload ratios were overestimated by 10 15% Injury prone players, identified via player identity in the mixed model, were at 5 times higher risk of injuries compared to robust players (hazard ratio 5.4, 90% confidence limits 3.6 12) despite adjusting for training load and previous injuries. Combinations of multiple risk factors were associated with extremely large increases in risk; for example, a hazard ratio of 22 (9.7 52) was observed for the combination of high acute load, recent history of a leg injury, and a substantial reduction in the adductor squeeze test score.  On the basis of our findings with an elite team of Australian footballers, the information from athlete monitoring practices in team sports should be interpreted collectively and used as a part of the injury prevention decision making process along with consideration of individual differences in risk.

title: A Comparison of Cognitive Function in Former Rugby Union Players Compared with Former Non Contact Sport Players and the Impact of Concussion History
abstract: AimThis study investigated differences in cognitive function between former rugby and non contact sport players, and assessed the association between concussion history and cognitive function.MethodsOverall, 366 former players (mean standard deviation [SD] age 43.3 8.2 years) were recruited from October 2012 to April 2014. Engagement in sport, general health, sports injuries and concussion history, and demographic information were obtained from an online self report questionnaire. Cognitive functioning was assessed using the online CNS Vital Signs neuropsychological test battery. Cohen's d effect size statistics were calculated for comparisons across player groups, concussion groups (one or more self reported concussions versus no concussions) and between those groups with CNS Vital Signs age matched norms (US norms) Individual differences within groups were represented as SDs.ResultsThe elite rugby group (n 103) performed worse on tests of complex attention, processing speed, executive functioning, and cognitive flexibility than the non contact sport group (n 65) and worse than the community rugby group (n 193) on complex attention. The community rugby group performed worse than the non contact group on executive functioning and cognitive flexibility. Compared with US norms, all three former player groups performed worse on verbal memory and reaction time; rugby groups performed worse on processing speed, cognitive flexibility and executive functioning; and the community rugby group performed worse on composite memory. The community rugby group and non contact sport group performed slightly better than US norms on complex attention, as did the elite rugby group for motor speed. All three player groups had greater individual differences than US norms on composite memory, verbal memory and reaction time. The elite rugby group had greater individual differences on processing speed and complex attention, and the community rugby group had greater individual differences on psychomotor speed and motor speed. The average number of concussions recalled per player was greater for elite rugby and community rugby than non contact sport. Former players who recalled one or more concussions (elite rugby, 85 community rugby, 77 non contact sport, 23 had worse scores on cognitive flexibility, executive functioning, and complex attention than players who did not recall experiencing a concussion.ConclusionsPast participation in rugby or a history of concussion were associated with small to moderate neurocognitive deficits (as indicated by worse CNS Vital Signs scores) in athletes post retirement from competitive sport.