Judo Injuries Frequency in Europe's Top-Level Competitions in the Period 2005-2020.

Wiesław Błach,Nikos Malliaropoulos,Władysław Jagiełło,Krzysztof Maćkała,Peter Smolders,Nicola Maffulli,Georgios Bikos,Łukasz Rydzik,Tadeusz Ambroży

doi:10.3390/jcm10040852

Abstract

Background: The present study assesses the frequency of injury in Europe’s top-level judokas, during top-level competitions, and defines risk factors. Methods: The members of the EJU Medical Commission collected injury data over the period of 2005 to 2020 using the EJU Injury Registration Form at Europe’s top judoka tournaments. Results: Over the 15 years of the study, 128 top-level competitions with 28,297 competitors were included; 699 injuries were registered. Of all competitors, 2.5% needed medical treatment. The knee (17.4%), shoulder (15.7%), and elbow (14.2%) were the most common anatomical locations of injury. Sprains (42.2%) were by far the most frequent injury type, followed by contusions (23.1%). Of all contestants, 0.48% suffered an injury which needed transportation to hospital. There was a statistically significant higher frequency of elbow injuries in female athletes (p < 0.01). Heavy-weight judokas suffered a remarkably low number of elbow injuries, with more knee and shoulder injuries. Light-weight judokas were more prone to elbow injuries. Conclusions: We found there was a low injury rate in top-level competitors, with a greater frequency of elbow injuries in female judokas. During the 15 years of injury collection data, an injury incidence of 2.5% was found, with a remarkable high injury rate in the women’s −52 kg category, and statistically significantly more elbow injuries in women overall.

Highlights

Judo is a highly technical sport based on the principle of “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” [1]
Data were collected from a group of 26,862 high-performance judokas (15,571 men and 11,291 women) aged between 19 and 35 years in all judo weight categories competing in 128 international tournaments under the auspices of the European Judo Union (EJU), including European Judo Championships, in the period between 2005 and 2020
The participants were informed of the protocol and procedure of the EJU Injury registration form

Summary

Introduction

Judo is a highly technical sport based on the principle of “maximum efficiency with minimum effort” [1]. A judo fight starts with the opponents both standing, attempting to throw each other off balance. Judokas transition to ground-fighting, the so-called “ne-waza” [2]. The more athletes train and compete, the greater the range of powerful throwing techniques they are exposed to, and the chance of injury [4,5,6,7,8]. The frequency and number of injuries, as well as the severity of the injury, influences further training and competitions [9]. Recent studies analysing the frequency and type of injury in judo are available [10,11,12,13,14,15]. The aim of the present investigation was to assess the frequency of injury in Europe’s top-level judokas during high-level contests

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Discussion

Conclusions