Nutrition in Combat Sports

19 Kickboxing 341
contrast to Gartland et al., [26] female kickboxers in this study sustained injuries.
Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the proportion of matches
stopped due to concussion between males and females.
With regard to lower extremity injuries that required match stoppage, half
involved powerful kicks impacting the receiving kickboxer’s lateral knee. Postmatch
evaluations were highly suspicious for internal derangement of the knee. The
remaining lower extremity injuries involved debilitating thigh contusions. All
matches stopped because of thoracoabdominal trauma were caused by knee strikes.
Although blunt force to this area may increase one’s risk for pneumothorax, myocardial
injury, damage to intra-abdominal structures, and potential fetal injury among
pregnant competitors, such injuries occur relatively infrequently in sports. [12, 28]
Likewise, no such injuries were observed among the kickboxers in this study.
Another study was conducted in which 152 Thai-style kickboxers were interviewed
throughout the UK and Holland. [27] The kickboxers, who had at least 1
year of training were stratified based on competitive background: beginner (i.e., no
contact allowed), amateur (i.e., full contact allowed but headgear, mouth guards,
elbow pads, boxing gloves, body padding, groin protectors for males, and shin guards
were required), and professional (i.e., full contact allowed with only mouth guards,
groin protectors for males, and boxing gloves used for protection). The number of
injuries reported was directly proportional to experience, wherein beginners had the
least and professionals the most. Across all experience levels in this study, lower
extremity injury was reported most frequently. It corresponded to three fourths of
the injuries sustained among beginners, nearly two thirds of the injuries among
amateurs, and about half the injuries among professionals. In terms of types of lower
extremity injuries sustained, there were reportedly 780 incidents of shin contusion,
298 incidents of thigh contusion, and nearly 100 incidents of foot contusion. Among
professionals, fractures were expectedly more common because less protective
equipment was required, training may have been more intense, and impact forces
were likely greater than that among less-experienced kickboxers.
Head trauma accounted for approximately 2%, 31%, and 43% of all injuries
sustained among beginners, amateurs, and professionals, respectively. The low
percentage among beginners was attributed to the noncontact nature of their participation.
However, head trauma was the second most common injury among
amateurs and professionals. In terms of the types of head injuries sustained, there
were reportedly 545 incidents of head and neck contusion, 158 incidents of head
and neck laceration, 40 incidents of epistaxis, and 22 incidents of nasal fracture.
Similar to the aforementioned studies, [8, 25, 26] head and lower extremity trauma
were again the two most commonly reported acute injury types.
In an attempt to ascertain the effects of Thai kickboxing on renal and hepatic
function, Saengsirisuwan and colleagues obtained serum and urine samples from
10 sedentary adolescent males and compared the results to those of 10 adolescent
male Thai kickboxers. [29] Although mean age was less than 16 years, those in the
kickboxing group were recognized as professional competitors. The kickboxing
group exhibited significantly higher concentrations of serum creatine kinase as well
as aspartate aminotransferase after training and competition as compared to the
sedentary controls. These findings suggested that muscle cell damage occurred