Head Trauma in Female Professional Wrestlers

Abstract

The clinical characteristics of head trauma were evaluated in 18 wrestlers belonging to a female professional wrestling organization, 13 regular members and five trainees aged 15-34 years. Medical examinations for head trauma were performed in all wrestlers, and wrestlers treated at our emergency outpatient department were clinically evaluated. In addition, the relationships of head trauma with duration of the wrestling career of 1-16 years (mean 8 years) in the regular members, and less than 1 year in the five trainees, and body mass index (BMI) of 21.0-32.0 in the 16 subjects, excluding two trainees, was evaluated. Chronic symptoms were noted in four of the 18 wrestlers with long wrestling careers (16 years in 1, 13 years in 1, and 5 years in 2). Three wrestlers with symptoms immediately after head trauma showed recurrent retrograde amnesia and had low BMI (21.6, 21.6, and 23.1). Five wrestlers were treated at our emergency outpatient clinic, three required hospitalization and two showed intracranial traumatic changes on computed tomography (acute subdural hematoma in 1 and diffuse brain swelling in 1). Head trauma in female professional wrestlers is associated with longer wrestling career and low BMI. Periodic medical examinations are recommended to monitor for signs of head trauma.

Current Topics in Sports-related Head Injuries: A Review

“… 28 , 29) While ASDH is rare in other sports, it has been reported in soccer 32) and basketball players 33) and in women wrestlers. 34) …”

Injuries in Male and Female Wrestlers

“…This means that a longer wrestling career may result in increased injuries; as wrestling becomes more accessible to women, more injuries in female wrestlers may be reported 2 . In 2007 Nomoto et al evaluated head trauma characteristics in 18 female wrestlers aged 15 to 34 years 9 . The authors found that age of wrestling initiation and longer wrestling career are correlated with chronic head trauma in female wrestlers.…”

“…In addition, the prevalence of injury between weight classes varies with some data suggesting increased injuries in lower weight classes for both male and female wrestlers 2 . Brain injuries have also been found to occur at higher rates in female wrestlers with lower body mass index (BMI) 9 . It is thus important to note that weight class may affect the comparison of injuries between male and female wrestlers.…”

Nutritional Considerations for Injury Prevention and Recovery in Combat Sports

“…Numerous examples of research are available on the injury prevalence in various combat sports such as wrestling [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ], judo [ 29 , 30 , 31 ], taekwondo [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ], boxing [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ], and karate [ 43 , 44 , 45 ], as well as comparisons of injury prevalence among Olympic combat sports [ 2 , 46 , 47 , 48 ] and martial arts [ 1 , 49 ]. Due to the heterogeneity of these studies in terms of participants (e.g., elite vs. amateur, children or adolescents vs. adults, and male vs. female), injury definitions, surveillance methods (e.g., self-reporting, medical records, and injury surveillance systems), and characteristics of the reported injuries (e.g., competition injuries vs. training injuries and acute vs. chronic injuries), it is difficult to get an overall view of the injury rate, type, location, and severity.…”