Fracture injuries in elite Korean taekwondo sparring athletes

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-3573775/v1

Download PDF

Article

Fracture injuries in elite Korean taekwondo sparring athletes

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3573775/v1

This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

The aim of the study was to analyze fracture injuries and post-fracture management in elite taekwondo sparring athletes, with a specific focus on weight classes. Data were collected through a survey of 182 Korean taekwondo athletes using convenience sampling and self-administration methods. Approximately 58% of participants experienced taekwondo-related fractures, with heavyweight players having a significantly higher rate than lightweight players (χ²=3.87, p = .049). Overall, taekwondo-related fractures were most common in the hand region, during defensive maneuvers and caused by a player contact mechanism. Heavyweight players were more likely to sustain fractures during competition, while lightweight players were more likely to sustain fractures during training (χ²=6.39, p = .011). Heavyweight players were more likely to have surgery after fractures, whereas lightweights were more likely to have conservative treatment (χ²=4.270, p = .039). About half of the players (51.4%) returned to play without a diagnosis of bone union after their fractures, and the greatest psychological distress for players after fractures was concern about re-injury (57.2%). The current findings suggest that the fracture injury characteristics of elite taekwondo sparring athletes differ by weight class, highlighting the importance of a weight class-specific injury prevention and management program.

Health sciences/Health care

Health sciences/Health occupations

Taekwondo, a traditional Korean martial art, is typically divided into three disciplines: sparring, poomsae, and demonstration (1). Among these disciplines, sparring, in which two players compete within a restricted 8m×8m area, has been reported to carry a significantly higher risk of injury. Since the International Olympic Committee implemented the injury surveillance system in 2008, taekwondo has consistently ranked among the sports with the highest injury incidence in the Olympics (2–5). In a literature review examining competition-related injuries among adult taekwondo athletes, an overall injury incidence rate for elite male athletes ranged from 20.6 to 139.5 per 1,000 athlete exposures (AEs). Meanwhile, for elite female athletes, the rate ranged from 25.3 to 105.5 per 1,000 AEs (6).

In official taekwondo sparring matches, two competitors, one in a blue uniform and the other in red, face off on a non-slip, elastic mat (7). The techniques permitted in taekwondo sparring are restricted to hand and foot techniques, with scoring exclusively allowed for strikes to the body and head (7). In particular, the head area, where only foot techniques are allowed in taekwondo sparring, becomes a primary target for attack due to its potential for earning the highest scores (8). Consequently, serious injuries, including head fractures, were frequently reported in taekwondo sparring before the introduction of electronic scoring systems (9, 10). At present, athletes participating in competitions are mandated to wear approved protective gear, which includes a chest protector, headgear, groin protector, arm and leg guards, gloves, and mouth guard (7).

Several cohort studies have consistently reported that injuries in taekwondo sparring predominantly affect the lower extremities (1, 6, 11–14) and are primarily attributed to contact mechanisms with other athletes (1, 11, 15, 16). In terms of injury types, contusions, sprains, strains, and fractures were identified as the main injury types, although there was some variation between studies (1, 11, 12, 15). Notably, in a study of Korean university taekwondo athletes, Jeong et al (8) reported that sparring athletes had a significantly higher incidence of fractures compared to poomsae and demonstration athletes. In another cohort study focusing on elite Korean taekwondo athletes, Son et al (11) reported a relatively high incidence of fractures in Korean taekwondo athletes, accounting for approximately 21% of all injury types.

Although fractures had a slightly lower injury incidence than contusions or ligament injuries among taekwondo injuries (11, 12), they were reported as the injury type leading to the longest duration of time loss (13). In a study centered on acute injuries in taekwondo, the most common fracture sites were reported to be the toes, metatarsals, and fingers (16). Previous studies have shown significant associations between acute injury and taekwondo weight class (16, 17). While fractures, which can lead to substantial time loss (13, 18), are common in taekwondo sparring athletes (19), limited research has focused on these injuries in elite adult taekwondo athletes. Therefore, the study aimed to analyze taekwondo-related fractures and post-fracture management among taekwondo sparring athletes, with a specific focus on comparing these factors based on weight class.

Study participants

A total of 182 elite adult Korean taekwondo athletes (97 men, 85 women) voluntarily participated in this study. The participants’ mean age was 20.6 ± 2.5 years, with an age range from 18 to 30 years. Their mean playing experience was 9.55 ± 3.2 years, ranging from 1 to 20 years. The average height and weight of male players were 181.0 ± 3.4 cm and 72.8 ± 9.9 kg respectively, while for female players 170.0 ± 6.1 cm and 62.0 ± 9.7 kg respectively. All participants in this study were registered sparring athletes with the Korea Taekwondo Federation in 2023 and were associated with either university or professional teams in Korea.

Data acquisition

This study employed a convenience sampling method for data collection. For the survey, we conducted interviews with five professional teams and seven collegiate teams in seven metropolitan areas. The data collection period lasted for one month, from June 1st to July 1st, 2023.

This study used a standardized questionnaire to assess athletes' experiences of fractures. The questionnaire consisted of three main sections with a total of 17 items. First, the questionnaire collected general participant information, including gender, age, height, weight, dominant hand/foot, competition weight class, competition level (collegiate vs. professional), and previous experience with taekwondo-related fractures. Fractures were defined as injuries diagnosed by an orthopedic specialist, confirmed through radiological imaging. Second, variables related to taekwondo-related fractures included event types (practice vs. competition), mechanisms of injury (player contact, surface contact, overuse, others), injured sites (fingers, metacarpals, carpals, radius, ulna, clavicle, scapula, toes, metatarsals, tarsals, tibia, fibula, patella, pelvis, cranial bones, others), activities at the time of injury (attack, defense, stepping, landing, falling, others), and the return to play (RTP) time after injury or surgery. Last, for variables related to post-fracture management, we examined whether surgical treatment was performed, whether specialized rehabilitation was undertaken, and whether bone union was confirmed by a physician prior to RTP. Participants were presented with options for psychological distress resulting from the injury, including concern about re-injury, concern about being selected for the starting assignment, concern about performance recovery, no psychological distress, and others, and were asked to choose one primary response.

Informed consent

was obtained from all participants after they were informed of the purpose and procedures of the study. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sungkyunkwan University (No. 2023-06-027) prior to commencement. The study was in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Data Analysis

Continuous variables were presented as means and standard deviations, while categorical variables were presented as frequencies and proportions. Frequency analysis was utilized to examine the general characteristics of the study participants. In taekwondo sparring, both men and women are allocated to eight weight classes. For the purposes of this study, the four heaviest weight classes (men: -74kg, -80kg, -87kg, + 87kg; women: -62kg, -67kg, -73kg, + 73kg) were grouped as ‘heavyweight’. Conversely, the four lightest weight classes (men: -54kg, -58kg, -63kg, -68kg; women: -46kg, -49kg, -53kg, -57kg) were categorized as ‘lightweight’. Age was dichotomized into less than 21 years and more than 21 years. Similarly, playing experience was categorized as less than 10 years and more than 10 years. Chi-squared analyses were used to compare the percentages of fracture experience based on demographic characteristics, as well as to assess differences in proportions of fracture injury characteristics, post-fracture management, and post-fracture psychological distress between weight classes. The independent t-test was used to compare the RTP time between the two treatment methods (surgery vs. conservative treatment) for the most common fractures. The statistical significance level was set at p = 0.05. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS ver. 25.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

Table 1 presents the general characteristics of the study participants. Out ff the 182 total participants, 97 (53.5%) were male, 104 (57.1%) were under 21 years of age, 98 (53.8%) were in the lightweight class, and 149 (81.9%) were from university teams. In addition, 97 (53.2%) had less than 10 years of playing experience, and 105 (57.7%) had a history of taekwondo-related fractures.

Table 1

General characteristics of participants
Variable	Category	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Sex	Male	97	53.3
Sex	Female	85	46.7
Age (years)	< 21	104	57.1
Age (years)	≥ 21	78	42.9
Weight class	Light	98	53.8
Weight class	Heavy	84	46.2
Level of competition	Collegiate	149	81.9
Level of competition	Professional	33	18.1
Career (years)	< 10	97	52.7
Career (years)	≥ 10	86	47.3
Experience of Fracture	Yes	105	57.7
Experience of Fracture	No	77	42.3
Total		182	100

Insert Table 1 here

Table 2 demonstrates the differences in the proportions of fracture experience according to the general characteristics of the participants. Heavyweight players exhibited a significantly higher rate of fracture experience in comparison to their lightweight counterparts (χ²=3.87, p = .049). Aside from that, no significant differences in fracture experience were observed based on gender, age, playing experience, and competition level.

Table 2

Comparison of fracture experience according to demographic characteristics
Variable	Category	Fracture (n, %)	No Fracture (n, %)	χ² (p)
Sex	Male	55 (56.7)	42 (43.3)	0.08 (0.77)
Sex	Female	50 (58.8)	35 (41.2)	0.08 (0.77)
Age (years)	< 21	61 (58.7)	43 (41.3)	0.09 (0.76)
Age (years)	≥ 21	44 (56.4)	34 (43.6)	0.09 (0.76)
Weight Class	Light	50 (51.0)	48 (49.0)	3.87 (0.05)
Weight Class	Heavy	55 (65.5)	29 (34.5)	3.87 (0.05)
Level of Competition	Collegiate	84 (56.4)	65 (43.6)	0.58 (0.45)
Level of Competition	Professional	21 (63.6)	12 (36.4)	0.58 (0.45)
Career (years)	< 10	54 (56.3)	42 (43.8)	0.17 (0.68)
Career (years)	≥ 10	51 (59.3)	35 (40.7)	0.17 (0.68)

Insert Table 2 here

Table 3 shows the characteristics of fracture injuries by weight class. In total, fracture injuries were more likely to occur during training (65.7%) than during competition (34.3%). Player contact accounted for 84.8% of the overall injury mechanism, followed by surface contact (11.4%) and overuse (2.9%). The most common body sites of fracture were the finger bones (34.3%), followed by the metacarpals (28.6%), metatarsals (15.2%) and carpal bones (7.6%). Additionally, most fractures occurred during defense (68.6%), followed by attack (19.0%), stepping (6.7%), and landing (3.8%). Heavyweight players suffered more fractures during competition, while lightweight players suffered more fractures during training, with a statistically significant difference (χ²=6.39, p = .011).

Table 3

Characteristics of fractures by weight class among taekwondo sparring athletes
Variable	Category		Overall (n = 105) (n, %)		Heavyweight (n = 55) (n, %)		Lightweight (n = 50) (n, %)	χ² (p)
Event Type	Training		69 (65.7)		30 (54.5)		39 (78.0)	6.39 (0.01)
Event Type	Competition		36 (34.3)		25 (45.5)		11 (22.0)	6.39 (0.01)
Mechanism	Player contact		89 (84.8)		48 (87.3)		41 (82.0)	1.98 (0.57)
	Surface contact		12 (11.4)		5 (9.1)		7 (14.0)
	Overuse		3 (2.9)		1 (1.8)		2 (4.0)
	Other		1 (1.0)		1 (1.8)		0
Injured Site	Head (Orbit)		1 (1.0)		1 (1.8)		0	12.07 (0.44)
	Fingers		36 (34.3)		18 (32.7)		18 (36.0)
	Metacarpals		30 (28.6)		17 (30.9)		13 (26.0)
	Carpals	8 (7.6)		3 (5.5)		5 (10.0)
	Toes	4 (3.8)		2 (3.6)		2 (4.0)
	Metatarsals	16 (15.2)		11 (20.0)		5 (10.0)
	Tibia	2 (1.9)		1 (1.8)		1 (2.0)
	Fibula	2 (1.9)		0		2 (4.0)
	Patella	2 (1.9)		0		2 (4.0)
	Pelvis	(1.0)		0		1 (2.0)
	Ribs	1 (1.0)		0		1 (2.0)
	Coccyx	1 (1.0)		1 (1.8)		0
	Others	1 (1.0)		1 (1.8)		0
Activity	Attack	20 (19.0)		14 (25.5)		6 (12.0)		6.17 (0.19)
	Defense	72 (68.6)		35 (63.6)		37 (74.0)
	Stepping	7 (6.7)		3 (5.5)		4 (8.0)
	Landing	4 (3.8)		4 (3.8)		3 (6.0)
	Fall	2 (1.9)		2 (3.6)		0

Insert Table 3 here

Table 4 illustrates the post-fracture management by weight class. Of the 105 players who suffered a fracture, 51 (48.6%) underwent surgical treatment after the fracture, while only 35 (33.3%) underwent specialized rehabilitation. In addition, only 51 (48.6%) returned to the team after being assessed by a physician. Heavyweight players were significantly more likely to undergo surgical treatment after a fracture injury than lightweight players (χ²=4.270, p = .039), and they also tended to have higher rates of specialized rehabilitation (χ²=3.742, p = .053). However, there was no significant difference between weight classes in the diagnosis of bone union prior to RTP.

Table 4

Comparison of post-fracture management by weight class among taekwondo sparring athletes
Variable	Yes/No	Overall (n = 105) (n, %)	Heavyweight (n = 55) (n, %)	Lightweight (n = 50) (n, %)	χ² (p)
Surgery	Yes	51 (48.6)	32 (58.2)	19 (38.0)	4.27 (0.04)
Surgery	No	54 (51.4)	23 (41.8)	31 (62.0)	4.27 (0.04)
Rehabilitation	Yes	35 (33.3)	23 (41.8)	12 (24.0)	3.74 (0.05)
Rehabilitation	No	70 (66.7)	32 (58.2)	38 (76.0)	3.74 (0.05)
Bone union diagnosis	Yes	51 (48.6)	30 (54.5)	21 (42.0)	1.65 (0.20)
Bone union diagnosis	No	54 (51.4)	25 (45.5)	29 (58.0)	1.65 (0.20)

Insert Table 4 here

Table 5 shows the psychological distress experienced after a fracture by weight class. Concern about re-injury accounted for 57.2% of all concerns, followed by no psychological distress (16.2%), concern about being selected for the starting assignment (13.3%), and concern about performance recovery (11.4%).

Table 5

Psychological distress after fracture by weight class among taekwondo sparring athletes
Category	Overall (n = 105) (n, %)	Heavyweight (n = 55) (n, %)	Lightweight (n = 50) (n, %)	χ² (p)
Concern about Re-injury	60 (57.2)	31 (56.4)	29 (58.0)	6.61 (0.25)
Concern about Starting Assignment	14 (13.3)	8 (14.5)	6 (12.0)
Concern about Performance Recovery	12 (11.4)	9 (16.4)	3 (6.0)
No psychological distress	17 (16.2)	7 (12.7)	10 (20.0)
Others	2 (1.9)	0	2 (4.0)

Insert Table 5 here

Table 6 provides the average RTP time for the most common fractures. Metatarsal fractures (3.4 ± 1.5 months) resulted in the longest duration of time lost, followed by carpal fractures (2.81 ± 1.69), metacarpal fractures (2.48 ± 1.45) and finger fractures (1.15 ± 1.98). Overall, surgical treatment tended to result in longer RTP time compared to conservative treatment, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Table 6

Comparison of surgical and conservative RTP time for the four common fractures (months)
Specific Pathology	Overall (M ± SD)	Surgical treatment (M ± SD)		Conservative treatment (M ± SD)		p
Finger fractures (n = 36; surgery 16, conservative 20)	1.15 ± 1.98	2.25 ± 2.70		1.00 ± 0.85		0.05
Metacarpal fractures (n = 30; surgery 19, conservative 11)	2.48 ± 1.45	2.71 ± 1.41		2.09 ± 1.50		0.27
Carpal fractures (n = 8; surgery 5, conservative 3)	2.81 ± 1.69	3.20 ± 1.92		2.17 ± 1.26		0.45
Metatarsal fractures (n = 16; surgery 7, conservative 9)	3.38 ± 1.53		3.86 ± 1.22		3.01 ± 1.71	0.28
RTP, return to play

Insert Table 6 here

This study investigated the experience of taekwondo-related fractures in elite Korean taekwondo sparring athletes. In this study, we found that approximately 58% of the total participants had suffered fractures during taekwondo training and competition, with heavyweight players having a significantly higher likelihood of fractures than their lightweight counterparts. Heavyweight players were more likely to suffer fractures during competition, while lightweights were more likely to suffer fractures during training. In addition, heavyweight players were more likely to require surgery after fractures than lightweight players. Regardless of weight class, fractures were more likely to occur in the hand region during defensive maneuvers, typically as a result of player contact.

Our analysis showed that taekwondo-related fractures in taekwondo athletes were not associated with gender, competition level, age, or athletic career; instead, they were found to be significantly associated with weight class. These findings align with the detailed results of relevant studies, despite the lack of studies focusing on fractures. By analyzing injuries that occurred during the 2017 Muju World Taekwondo Championships, Jeong et al (8) reported a comparable incidence rate of approximately 20% for fracture injuries in both males and females. Schluter-Brust et al (16) found an increased risk of acute injuries, including fractures, in higher weight classes, particularly in female taekwondo athletes, by examining acute injuries in 356 taekwondo athletes of different skill levels.

Although Schluter-Brust et al. (16) showed that body weight influences the injury profile of athletes, they did not endorse that weight is inextricably linked to injury rates. However, the authors suggested that this trend could be attributed to the general assumption that an increase in body weight allows greater force exertion, potentially leading to greater impacts and consequently more severe injuries in athletes. For these reasons, it is speculated that fracture rates may be higher in heavyweight players in this study. However, Beis et al (20) reported that overall injury rates, including fractures, varied by weight class in their analysis of taekwondo sparring injuries. Given the limited data available on taekwondo-related fractures, further research is needed to gain more insight into this issue.

In the current study, we found that sparring athletes were more likely to suffer fractures during training than during competition. Notably, more than three-quarters of the fractures in lightweight athletes occurred during training. In contrast to our findings, a cohort study by Willauschus et al (13) reported that foot fractures occurred predominantly during competition. Whilst most fractures in our study were in the hand (70.5%) - which could lead to different results to previous studies - an additional sub-analysis based on the body site of injury showed that both foot and ankle fractures were more prevalent in training than competition in this study. Although there is no clear explanation for these differences between this study and previous research, differences in training exposure time and the use of protective gear during training may be contributing factors.

In this study, most fractures in taekwondo sparring athletes were caused by acute contact mechanisms (96%). Finger fractures were the most common, accounting for 34.3% of all fractures, followed by metacarpals, metatarsals and carpals. This aligns with the findings of Willauschus et al (13) that foot fractures in taekwondo athletes were significantly linked to contact mechanisms rather than non-contact mechanisms. Given taekwondo's emphasis on hand and foot involvement in offensive and defensive actions, these findings are both expected and consistent with previous studies (11, 19–21). Taken together, the findings from the current and previous studies indicate that fractures in taekwondo sparring athletes are predominantly the result of contact mechanisms and frequently affect the hand and foot.

In taekwondo tournaments, it is mandatory for participating athletes to wear protective equipment to prevent injury. Nevertheless, the fact that many fractures occurred in the hand area during defensive maneuvers has significant implications. The foot, which can strike the torso and head, was once the most common fracture site (22); however, it appears that the incidence of fracture has decreased since the introduction of sturdy foot pads (18). Most blocking actions in taekwondo are executed along the ulnar side of the forearm, and the use of forearm protectors has been shown to reduce the impact in this region (23, 24). Previous studies (8, 18) have emphasized the development of reinforced hand guards, but current gloves are still considered inadequate to protect athletes from fractures. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further improvements and advancements in protective gear to prevent hand fractures, and it is essential for athletes to master proper blocking skills.

In terms of post-fracture treatment, it was found that heavyweight players were more likely to undergo surgery than lightweight players, while lightweight players were more likely to undergo conservative treatment than heavyweight players. The findings of this study suggest that the fractures sustained by heavyweight players may be more severe than those sustained by lightweight players. As previously stated, it is plausible that heavyweight players, due to their larger body size, generate more power and this could result in more serious injuries, such as displaced fractures. Furthermore, despite a high concern about the risk of re-injury after fractures (57.2%), athletes tended to return to training without a medical diagnosis of bone union because prolonged absence could impair their performance. In addition, only a third of the participants in this study received specialized rehabilitation after their fracture injury. Given the high rate of fracture recurrence in sparring athletes (1), ensuring proper diagnosis of bone union by medical professionals, and providing appropriate rehabilitation may be critical strategies to reduce recurrence rates.

For the four most common fractures (fingers, metacarpals, carpals, and metatarsals), there was no difference in RTP time between treatment methods. Previous studies have reported that surgical treatment with fixation tended to result in faster fracture healing than conservative treatment (25–28). In this study, however, conservative treatment tended to result in a shorter RTP time. This difference may be attributed to the fact that the fractures requiring conservative treatment in this study were less severe than those requiring surgery. Alternatively, it cannot be ruled out that players who underwent conservative treatment returned to training earlier than full recovery. However, due to the limited data available, further discussion is needed regarding the differences in RTP time based on treatment methods after fractures.

This study has the following limitations. First, because the data were collected using retrospective recall methods, there may have been a memory decay bias. Second, the use of convenience sampling to recruit participants may have introduced a potential selection bias. Therefore, the results of the study cannot be generalized to the entire population of elite taekwondo sparring athletes. These limitations could be addressed in future studies using random sampling methods and prospective research designs.

The current study examined the experience of fractures in elite Korean taekwondo sparring athletes and showed that most fractures occurred in the hand region, during defensive maneuvers, and caused by the player contact mechanism, with heavyweight players having a higher prevalence of fractures than lightweight players. Heavyweight players were more likely to suffer fractures during competition than training and had a higher rate of fractures requiring surgery, while lightweight players were more likely to suffer fractures during training than competition. The findings of this current study suggest the necessity of developing more resilient gloves to prevent fractures in taekwondo sparring athletes and highlight the importance of developing different injury prevention and post-facture management strategies for different weight classes.

Acknowledgements:

The experiments complied with the laws of the country where conducted. We thank all the Korean taekwondo sparring athletes who participated in this study.

Author’s contributions:

SY was responsible for the study concept and design, data collection and analysis, and drafting of the manuscript. MS was responsible for the experimental concept and design, data collection and analysis, as well as drafting and revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Competing interests: All authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Funding: No funding is available for the study.

Data availability:

The data sets used and analyzed in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Ethics declarations:

Informed consent was obtained from all participants after they were informed of the purpose and procedures of the study. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Sungkyunkwan University (No. 2023-06-027) prior to commencement. The study was in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent to publish: Not applicable.

Jeong, G., & Chun, B. Differences in sports injury types according to taekwondo athlete types (sparring, poomsae, and demonstration). J. Sports Sci. Med. 21, 473 (2022).
Junge, A. et al. Sports injuries during the summer Olympic Games 2008. Am. J. Sports Med. 37, 2165–2172 (2009).
Engebretsen, L. et al. Sports injuries and illnesses during the London Summer Olympic Games 2012. Br. J. Sports Med. 47, 407–414 (2013).
Soligard, T. et al. Sports injury and illness incidence in the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Summer Games: A prospective study of 11274 athletes from 207 countries. Br. J. Sports Med. 51, 1265–1271 (2017).
Soligard, T. et al. New sports, COVID-19 and the heat: sports injuries and illnesses in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Br. J. Sports Med. 57, 46–54 (2023).
Pieter, W., Fife, G. P., & O'Sullivan, D. M. Competition injuries in taekwondo: a literature review and suggestions for prevention and surveillance. Br. J. Sports Med. 46, 485–491 (2012).
World Taekwondo Federation. 2017 Competition Rules and Interpretation. Available at, http://www.worldtaekwondo.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/WTF-Competition-Rules-Interpretation-Nov-15-2016.pdf. (in Korean) (Accessed 19 September 2023).
Jeong, H. et al. Video analysis on the injury mechanism of the World Taekwondo Championship athletes. Korean J. Sports Med. 40, 179–188 (2022).
Siana, J. E., Borum, P., & Kryger, H. Injuries in taekwondo. Br. J. Sports Med. 20, 165–166 (1986).
Pieter, W., & Zemper, E. D. Head and neck injuries in young taekwondo athletes. J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness 39, 147 (1999).
Son, B., Cho, Y. J., Jeong, H. S., & Lee, S. Y. Injuries in Korean elite taekwondo athletes: A prospective study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17, 5143 (2020).
Ji, M. Analysis of injuries in taekwondo athletes. J. Phys. Ther. Sci. 28, 231–234 (2016).
Willauschus, M. et al. Foot and Ankle Injuries in Elite Taekwondo Athletes: A 4-Year Descriptive Analysis. Orthop. J. Sports Med. 9, 23259671211061112 (2021).
Kazemi, M., & Pieter, W. Injuries at a Canadian National Taekwondo Championships: a prospective study. BMC Musculoskelet. Disord. 5, 1–8 (2004).
Beis, K., Pieter, W., & Abatzides, G. Taekwondo techniques and competition characteristics involved in time-loss injuries. J. Sports Sci. Med. 6(CSSI-2), 45–51 (2007).
Schluter-Brust, K. et al. Acute injuries in Taekwondo. Int. J. Sports Med. 32, 629–634 (2011).
Jeong, H. S., O'Sullivan, D. M., Jeong, D. H., & Lee, S. Y. Sports injuries and illnesses after implementation of the web-based surveillance system in world Taekwondo. J. Athl. Train. 56, 1232–1238 (2021).
Kim, Y. et al. Fractures & dislocations related to middle and high school taekwondo athletes in competition. J. Korean Orthop. Sports Med. 8, 39–45 (2009).
Geßlein, M. et al. Injury incidence rates and profiles in elite taekwondo during competition and training. Int. J. Sports Med. 41, 54–58 (2020).
Beis, K., Tsaklis, P., Pieter, W., & Abatzides, G. Taekwondo competition injuries in Greek young and adult athletes. European journal of sports traumatology and related research: official journal of the EFOST, Eur. J. Sports Traumatol. Relat. Res. 23, 130–136 (2001).
Vormittag, K., Calonje, R., & Briner, W. W. Foot and ankle injuries in the barefoot sports. Curr. Sports Med. Rep. 8, 262–266 (2009).
Jung, H. G. et al. Sports injuries in college taekwondo players: Retrospective analysis of 47 players. J. Korean Orthop. Sports Med. 5, 69–74 (2006).
Ramazanoglu, N. Effectiveness of foot protectors and forearm guards in Taekwondo. Archives of Budo 8, 207–211 (2012).
Jeong, H. S., O’sullivan, D. M., Lee, S. C., & Lee, S. Y. Safety evaluation of protective equipment for the forearm, shin, hand and foot in taekwondo. J. Sports Sci. Med. 18, 376–383 (2019).
Wu, G. B., Li, B., & Yang, Y. F. Comparative study of surgical and conservative treatments for fifth metatarsal base avulsion fractures (type I) in young adults or athletes. J. Orthop. Surg. 26, 2309499017747128 (2017).
Valkier, C., Fallat, L. M., & Jarski, R. Conservative versus surgical management of fifth metatarsal avulsion fractures. J. Foot Ankle Surg. 59, 988–992 (2020).
Alnaeem, H., Aldekhayel, S., Kanevsky, J., & Neel, O. F. A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the differences between nonsurgical management and percutaneous fixation of minimally and nondisplaced scaphoid fractures. J. Hand Surg. Am. 41, 1135–1144 (2016).
Kc, K. M., Marahatta, S. B., Niroula, A., Kc, A., & Pangeni, R. B. Comparative study between operative versus non-operative treatment for base of fifth metatarsal fractures in young adults. Kathmandu Univ. Med. J. 19, 190–194 (2021).

No competing interests reported.

Download PDF

Version 1

posted

You are reading this latest preprint version

Fracture injuries in elite Korean taekwondo sparring athletes

Status:

Version 1

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Study participants

Data acquisition

Data Analysis

Results

Discussion

Conclusions

Declarations

References

Additional Declarations

Status:

Version 1