INTRACRANIAL INJURIES RESULTING FROM BOXING
Section snippets
MECHANISM OF BRAIN INJURY IN BOXING
The mechanism of the production of an injury to the brain and its coverings is complex because of both the effects of direct impact of the gloved fist on the skull and the relative motion of the brain and skull in response to this impact. These factors have been studied experimentally in both humans and animals by scientists interested in preventing brain injury in automobile and other accidents as well as in boxing and other sports, such as race driving and ice hockey.
The brain is suspended
ACUTE INJURIES
A study by the New York State Athletic Commission of acute boxing injuries suffered in the professional ring in New York from August 1, 1982, through July 1, 1984, reported by Jordan and Campbell,19 identified 376 that occurred in 3110 rounds of boxing. Of these, 262 were described as injuries to the head other than lacerations and eye injuries. Four of these fighters required hospitalization and one of them died.
Roberts34 examined 224 boxers of 250 who had been identified as a 1.5% random
CHRONIC INJURIES
There is good evidence to indicate that repeated brain injury, even though each individual injury produces minimal or unobservable immediate effects, causes chronic brain damage with degeneration and atrophy. Damaged central nervous system tissue does not regenerate. The ability of undamaged brain tissue to take over or compensate for the loss of damaged tissue is limited. It is therefore incumbent on those charged with the medical supervision of athletes to identify brain injury when it
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
A review of the available records indicates that there have been a substantial number of fatalities in primarily professional but also amateur boxers due to intracranial injuries sustained in the ring in comparison to the numbers of boxers at risk. The number of such fatalities has decreased steadily in recent years owing to different measures taken by boxing authorities to decrease the physical hazards in the ring and to improve monitoring of boxers during bouts by referees and physicians.
The
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Cited by (42)
Movement disorders secondary to craniocerebral trauma
2015, Handbook of Clinical NeurologyVomiting as a reliable sign of concussion
2012, Medical HypothesesCitation Excerpt :Herein, concussion is regarded as the fugacious and rapidly revocable state of neuronal dysfunction associated with a loss of consciousness instantly following the head injury [7,8,12–14]. Considering the neurophysiology of vomiting [15], concussion strikes an eye [16]. Theoretically, any part of the brain can be damaged during fight [17].
Neurologic Injuries in Boxing and Other Combat Sports
2009, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North AmericaCitation Excerpt :The most comprehensive review of boxing fatalities was published in 1998 based upon newspaper sources.33,34 That review included deaths that had occurred “worldwide” that had been reported in newspapers since World War I. To the end of 1996, the review stated that 659 boxing-fatalities had been recorded, for an average of fewer than 9 deaths per year over the 78-year period.33,34 Despite the addition of better reporting over the more recent decades of that study, a reduced death rate in boxing was seen, most likely resulting from a real decrease in the number of deaths rather than a decrease in the number of active boxers over the time period.35
Neurologic Injuries in Boxing and Other Combat Sports
2008, Neurologic ClinicsCitation Excerpt :It is also probable that the data from the newspaper records may have been inaccurate, and that the earlier reports may have misrepresented deaths as being caused by boxing. The published work of Ryan [33,34] is supplemented by an online database of boxing deaths that have occurred worldwide since the 19th century [36]. Similar decreases in the number of deaths in recent times have been shown in that dataset, although without population numbers in either of these datasets, information related to the risk of death caused by boxing participation cannot be ascertained.
Bench to bedside: Evidence for brain injury after concussion - Looking beyond the computed tomography scan
2006, Academic Emergency MedicineCitation Excerpt :Although pathologic findings in concussion are less extensive than the damage seen in severe TBI, the pattern of injury is identical. A number of case reports and small studies reporting the neuropathological findings from the brains of former boxers have been published.40 Common findings include cerebral atrophy, neurofibrillary tangles, cavum septum pellucidum, senile plaques, and degeneration and loss of pigmented cells in the substantia nigra.
Address reprint requests to Allan J. Ryan, MD, 5800 Jeff Place, Edina, MN 55436
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Sports Medicine Enterprise, Minneapolis, Minnesota