Please cite this article in press as: Hammami N, et al. Combat sport injuries profile: A review. Sci sports (2017),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.04.014
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REVIEW
Combat sport injuries profile: A review
Profil des blessures en sports de combat : revue de la
littérature
N. Hammami
a,*
, S. Hattabi
a
, A. Salhi
a
, T. Rezgui
b
, M. Oueslati
a
,
A. Bouassida
a
a
Research unit, Sportive Performance & Physical Rehabilitation (S2PR), High Institute of Sports and
Physical Education, University of Jendouba, 7100 Kef, Tunisia
b
Applied Mechanics and Systems Research Laboratory (LASMAP), Tunisia Polytechnic School, University of
Carthage, Tunisia
Received 17 November 2016; accepted 21 April 2017
KEYWORDS
Combat sport;
Injury location;
Risk factors;
Injury prevention
Summary
Objectives. — The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the injury location, injury
diagnosis, injury risk factors and injury prevention among practitioners of different combat
sports.
News. — This review was conducted using databases of MEDLINE (via Pubmed), Science Direct,
Scopus and Google Scholar. The studies concerned were classified according to the nature of
the combat sports and the type of the injury by three authors using the titles, abstracts and full
texts if available. Data from different observational studies suggest that there is a significant
injury problem in combat sport in general because the main goal of the practitioners is to strike
and/or to project opponent with maximal power and speed in order to win. This exposes them
to permanent risk of injuries, which limit usually training effects, provoke disability conditions
with competitiveness loss and often ruin their careers. However, it varies considerably across
different styles. Researchers used retrospective and prospective method to explore specificity
of injury but little is known about the actual severity of injuries in combat sports.
Prospects and projects. — Future studies are highly encouraged to adopt stronger methodolo-
gies. The long-term consequences of injuries, a detailed balance sheet by nature of injury and
specific preventive strategies are needed to support the findings presented in this review.
Conclusion. — In this review, a preliminary injury profiles in combat sports was established con-
taining location and types of injuries. Compared to other sports, combat sports are no more
dangerous especially for beginner practitioners.
© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: nedhirhammami@gmail.com (N. Hammami).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2017.04.014
0765-1597/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.