SLR - October 2022 - Gina Palazzi, DPM
Reference: Willauschus, M., Rüther, J., Millrose, M., Walcher, M., Lambert, C., Bail, H. J., & Geßlein, M. (2021). Foot and Ankle Injuries in Elite Taekwondo Athletes: A 4-Year Descriptive Analysis. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 9(12), 23259671211061112.Level of Evidence: III
Scientific Literature Review
Reviewed By: Gina Palazzi, DPM
Residency Program: Geisinger, Scranton, PA
Podiatric Relevance: Taekwondo and mixed martial arts are becoming popular sports in both adults and children today. As podiatrists, a wide knowledge base of sports should be known in order to best treat patients.
Goals of this study were to look at the incidence of foot and ankle injuries in taekwondo athletes during sparring and actual competitions. The study also examined injury type, mechanism and time loss from sport.
Methods: This was a prospective study of foot and ankle injuries sustained in a single national Olympic taekwondo training center over a 4-year period. Type of injury, location, injury mechanism, exposure time and dominant foot were documented and correlated to one another. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used for differences in sex, age, and taekwondo experience for comparison of above factors.
Results: 107 athletes were utilized with 79 included in final data set. 38 athletes were injured, indicating a prevalence of 48.1%. IIR (injury incidence rate) of ankle joint was 13.14 per 1000 athletes and this was noted to be higher during competition vs training. Ankle joint injuries were most common. More noncontact compared to contact injuries were seen. Forefoot fractures were most affected by contact injuries. Time loss in sport was highest for midfoot fractures
Conclusions: Noncontact ligamentous ankle injuries were most common in this study with majority sustained during competition over training. This included predominantly the ATFL (70%). Contact injuries occurred primarily at the forefoot, including fractures, dislocations, and cartilage injuries. These contact injuries suffered resulted in 12 days away from training while the ligament injuries only allotted 5.4 days from sport.
It is important to understand this information for those physicians in the realm of sports medicine and those who may deal with trauma at a busy facility. Although the study looked at primarily elite athletes, the injuries may correlate with inexperienced athletes attempting to begin taekwondo or MMA at amateur level. This may assist in type of imaging to obtain upon patient encounter and readiness to return to sport following injury.