Ocular complications of boxing

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of ocular injuries in a large population of boxers over a period of 16 years, in particular, the most severe lesions that may be vision threatening. Methods: Clinical records of the medical archive of the Italian Boxing Federation were analysed. A total of 1032 boxers were examined from February 1982 to October 1998. A complete ophthalmological history was available for 956, who formed the study population (a total of 10 697 examinations). The following data were collected: age when started boxing; duration of competitive boxing career (from the date of the first bout); weight category; a thorough ocular history. The following investigations were carried out: measurement of visual acuity and visual fields, anterior segment inspection, applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, and examination of ocular fundus. Eighty age matched healthy subjects, who had never boxed, formed the control group. Results: Of the 956 boxers examined, 428 were amateur (44.8%) and 528 professional (55.2%). The median age at first examination was 23.1 (4.3) years (range 15-36). The prevalence of conjunctival, corneal, lenticular, vitreal, ocular papilla, and retinal alterations in the study population was 40.9% compared with 3.1% in the control group (p(0.0001). The prevalence of serious ocular findings (angle, lens, macula, and peripheral retina alterations) was 5.6% in boxers and 3.1% in controls (NS). Conclusions: Boxing does not result in a higher prevalence of severe ocular lesions than in the general population. However, the prevalence of milder lesions (in particular with regard to the conjunctiva and cornea) is noteworthy, justifying the need for adequate ophthalmological surveillance.

A 10-Year Survey of Severe Eye Injuries in Sport in Belgrade, Serbia 2000-2009

“…It is interesting that, during 10-year analyzed period, there was no hockey player or boxer, although these two sports represent activities with frequent eye injuries, what was also reported by other authors [13][14][15].…”

Boxing Participation by Children and Adolescents

“…4 Most injuries to the eye region were lacerations/cuts, although conjunctival, corneal, lenticular, vitreal, ocular papilla, and retinal lesions were also reported. 3 Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program data are similar; one-third of the reported injuries affected the head, face, and neck regions, and almost half of the injuries occurred in the upper extremity (Table 2). 17 Brain injury is the most significant risk associated with boxing, and acute subdural hematoma is the most common cause of death in amateur and professional boxers.…”

“…Participants in boxing are at risk of serious neurologic and facial injuries. [3][4][5][6][7] Despite these potential dangers, thousands of boys and girls participate in boxing in North America. In 2008, more than 18 000 youths younger than 19 years were registered with USA Boxing (Lynette Smith, USA Boxing, written communication, August 2009).…”

Eye Injuries in Summer Olympic Sports - A Mini Review

“…Twenty three articles mentioned injuries related to high risk sports as floorball (hockey), badminton, handball, basketball, golf, rugby, volleyball, water polo and soccer [2,5,6,. Considering "very high-risk" sports category, four articles had registers about boxing among which one described an isolated eyelid traumatic laceration related to karate [29][30][31][32][33][34]. Figure 1 shows the main causes of eye injuries according to sports modalities.…”

“…Ultimately, demonstrated that the use of correct eye protection could reduce or even eliminate unnecessary traumas that are easily preventable [2,5,7,[12][13][14][15]19,22,24,29]. The majority eye-trauma reports came from USA and England probably because of the great coverage of their data center and patient's information systems although those found in English articles are not specific reports.…”