Injury and injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing - Skmo

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006Injury and injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxingS Gartland, M H A Malik and M E LovellBr. J. Sports Med. 2001;35;308-313doi:10.1136/bjsm.35.5.308Updated information and services can be found at:http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/35/5/308ReferencesRapid responsesEmail alertingserviceThese include:This article cites 22 articles, 9 of which can be accessed free at:http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/35/5/308#BIBL3 online articles that cite this article can be accessed at:http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/35/5/308#otherarticlesYou can respond to this article at:http://bjsm.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletter-submit/35/5/308Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article - sign up in the box at thetop right corner of the articleTopic collectionsArticles on similar topics can be found in the following collectionsInjury (818 articles)Sports Medicine (1310 articles)NotesTo order reprints of this article go to:http://www.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprintformTo subscribe to British Journal of Sports Medicine go to:http://www.bmjjournals.com/subscriptions/

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006308Br J Sports Med 2001;35:308–313Injury and injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxingS Gartland, M H A Malik, M E LovellDepartment ofOrthopaedics,Withington Hospital,Manchester M20 2LR,UKS GartlandM H A MalikMELovellCorrespondence to:Mr Malik, Department ofOrthopaedics. WithingtonHospital, Nell Lane, WestDidsbury, ManchesterM20 2LP, UKhammymalik@hotmail.comAccepted 5 July 2001AbstractObjective—To determine the type andnumber of injuries that occur during thetraining and practice of Muay Thai kickboxing and to compare the data obtainedwith those from previous studies of karateand taekwondo.Methods—One to one interviews using astandard questionnaire on injuries incurredduring training and practice ofMuay Thai kick boxing were conducted atvarious gyms and competitions in theUnited Kingdom and a Muay Thai gala inHolland.Results—A total of 152 people were questioned,132 men and 20 women. Therewere 19 beginners, 82 amateurs, and 51professionals. Injuries to the lower extremitieswere the most common in allgroups. Head injuries were the secondmost common in professionals and amateurs.Trunk injuries were the next mostcommon in beginners. The diVerence ininjury distribution among the threegroups was significant (p

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006Injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing 309A definition of a reportable injury is oftenone that results in the athlete missing morethan one day of training. Injuries that causedthis in taekwondo athletes ran at 15% of allinjuries, in both sexes. This was based oninjuries/min of competition. In men this was23.58/1000 min, and 13.51/1000 min forwomen. For men this is less than for wrestling(31.75/1000 min) and American football(30.97/1000 min). In women this is less thanfor gymnastics (18.09/1000 min) and soccer(15.31/1000 min). 22A survey of athletes during and after a tournamentand training sessions found that about60% of injuries go unreported. A number ofreasons were suggested: recall of minor injuriescan be poor, denial of vulnerability, raised painthreshold, fear of instructors’ perception ofinjury, and confusion as to what is an injury. 23MethodsA questionnaire was devised with advice from asenior instructor at the Muay Thai Centre ofExcellence in Manchester (fig 1). A one on onemethod of interview was used to ensure thatthe questionnaires were all fully completed.Interviews were conducted at various gyms andcompetitions in the United Kingdom and at aMuay Thai gala in the Netherlands. The natureand purpose of the interview was explained.Questions were asked on age, sex, amount ofpractice time, level of contact, and level of proficiency(beginners, amateurs, or professionals).The last of these was used instead of rank,as various participants had trained in diVerentforms of kick boxing but had only recentlyconverted to Muay Thai, not all gyms used thesame ranking systems, and recall of rank wasoften poor. Participants were asked about anyinjuries incurred during training and the practiceof Muay Thai. Subjects chosen had trainedfor a minimum of one year.Injuries accrued by participants as theyadvanced between training grades were diVerentiatedthroughout the timescale investigated.QUESTIONNAIREThe purpose of this study is to obtain information on the type and number of injuries sustainedduring the training and practice of Muay Thai. All information is confidential. No names are needed.The information gathered will be collated and presented to the IAMTF and Medical community.Age:Hours per week training:Sex: Male/FemaleHours per Month:Level of contact (please tick):NoneTouch sparringFull contactCompetitionHow long have you been training?Would you describe yourself as (please tick):BeginnerAmateurProfessionalPlease list INJURIES in LAST 6 MONTHS:InjuryContact level (please circle)None/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionINJURIES IN LAST 12 MONTHS:InjuryFigure 1Contact level (please circle)None/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionNone/Touch sparring/Full contact/CompetitionQuestionnaire used to determine injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing.www.bjsportmed.com

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006Injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing 311Number of cases1.210.80.60.40.20Kneestrain7–30 days> 30 daysTrunkcontusionBackstrainRibfractureInjury typeFigure 4 Injuries and number of days missed as a resultin beginners.Professionals = (1157/659) × (1000/51) =21.3 injuries/1000 participants/yearThe high rate for beginners is skewed by twoparticipants who suVered an abnormally highnumber of soft tissue injuries.TIME OFF TRAININGSome 7% of injuries in beginners required timeoV training. In one case of knee strain and onerib fracture, 7–30 days of training were missed.In one case of back strain, more than 30 dayswere missed, and similarly for a series of trunkcontusions (fig 4). The variety of injuriesresulting in time oV was much narrower than inthe other two groups.Some 4% of injuries in amateurs resulted intime oV training. Injuries requiring more than30 days oV training were six cases of anklestrain/sprain, five cases of knee strain, three ribfractures, and three shoulder strains (fig 5).Some 5.8% of injuries in professionalsrequired time oV training: eight nasal fractures,six rib fractures, and five metacarpal fractures(fig 6).DiscussionAs with previous studies on the martial arts,soft tissue injuries have been shown to be themost common type of injury, contributing to at7Number of cases6543217–30 days> 30 days0NasalfractureShldrsblxShldstrWristsprCarpal#MCP#Finger#ThbhypextFoot#Injury typeFigure 5 Injuries and number of days of training missed as a result in amateurs. #, Fracture; ct, contusion; ht,haematoma; KO, knock out; MCP, metacarpal; sblx, subluxation; Shldr, shoulder; spr, sprain; str, strain; Testtors, testiculartorsion; Thbhypext, thumb hyperextension.9Toe#LeghtKneestrShinctShinhtAnklestrBackstrGroinstrRib#KOTesttorsNumber of cases876543217–30 days> 30 days0Jaw#Nasal#ShldrsblxShldstrWristsprCarpal#MCP#Finger#ExtdprbThbhypextUlnrad#Injury typeFigure 6 Injuries and number of days missed as a result in professionals. #, fracture; ct, contusion; Extdprb, non-specificextensor tendon problem; ht, haematoma; KO, knock out; LL, lower leg; MCP, metacarpal; sblx, subluxation; Shldr,shoulder; spr, sprain; str, strain; Thbhypext, thumb hyperextension; Ulnrad, ulnar/radius.Foot#LL#Toe#LeghtLegstrKneestrShinctShinhtAnklestrBackstrGroinstrRib#KOHaematuriawww.bjsportmed.com

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006312 Gartland, Malik, Lovellleast 80–90% of all injuries. The actual value isprobably higher because, during interviews,subjects displayed poor recall as to the numberand occurrence of such injuries. In addition, ifsubjects reported around 10 or more contusions,this was recorded as 10. This particularlyaVects fighters in whom shin contusions are anaccepted injury incurred by the use of shins toblock an attackers kicks and knees.Sprains and strains were the second mostcommon type of injury in beginners and amateurs(p

Downloaded from bjsm.bmjjournals.com on 2 September 2006Injury rates in Muay Thai kick boxing 31320 Critchley GR, Mannion S, Meredith C. Injury rates in Shotokankarate. Br J Sports Med 1999;33:174–7.21 Burks JB, Satterfield K. Foot and ankle injuries among martialartists. Results of a survey. J Am Podiatr Med Assoc1998;88:268–78.22 Zemper ED, Pieter W. Injury rates in junior and seniornational taekwondo competition. Proceedings of the first IOCWorld Congress of Sports Science. Amsterdam: IOC, 1989:219–20.23 Birrer RB, Birrer CD. Unreported injuries in the martialarts. Br J Sports Med 1983;17:131–4.24 Rimel RW, Giordani B, Barth JT, et al. Disability caused byminor head injury. Neurosurgery 1981;9:221–825 United States Consumer Products Safety Commission.NEISS data highlights. Washington DC: United StatesConsumer Products Safety Commission, 1979–1994:vols2–18.Take home messageInjury rates and types in Muay Thai kick boxing mirror those reported in karate andtaekwondo and probably represent an underreporting of injuries. More strategies for injuryreduction need to be defined.British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine inassociation with the National Sports Medicine InstituteEducation programme 2001BASEM CongressVale of Glamorgan, Wales. Further details:Tel/Fax: +44 (0)1928 732961; email: basemoYce@compuserve.comInjury Management and Medicine: lower limbLilleshall Hall National Sports CentreCurrent ConceptsTopic, date, and location to be confirmed25–28 October18–23 November2 DecemberFor further details of these courses please contact Mr Barry Hill, The National Sports MedicineInstitute, c/o Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Charterhouse Square, LondonEC1M 6BQ.Tel: 020 7251 0583 (ext 237); Fax: 020 7251 0774; email: barry.hill@nsmi.org.ukWeb site: www.nsmi.org.ukwww.bjsportmed.com