ISSN: 2706-8870
Volume 7, Number 1 (2022)
Year Launched: 2016

Clarifying the structure of repeated serious injuries on female rugby players

Volume 7, Issue 1, February 2022     |     PP. 39-53      |     PDF (1502 K)    |     Pub. Date: February 10, 2022
DOI: 10.54647/cm32766    85 Downloads     4925 Views  

Author(s)

Koh Sasaki, Research center for Health, Physical fitness and Sport/Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 4648601, Japan
Kensuke Iwabuchi, High performance committee, Japanese Rugby Football Union, Minato, Tokyo 1070061, Japan
Ichiro Watanabe, Department of Physical Education/Tokyo City University, Setagaya, Tokyo 158-8557, Japan
Akihiko Nakamura, Department of Pediatric Surgery/Nakamura Hospital, Setagaya, Tokyo 1660015, Japan
Takumi Yamamoto, Department of Physical Education/National Defense Academy, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 2398686, Japan
Keiko Asami, Women rugby committee, Japanese Rugby Football Union, Minato, Tokyo 1070061, Japan
Tetsuya Tsubakiha, Department of Physical Education/Tokyo City University, Setagaya, Tokyo 158-8557, Japan
Mitsuyuki Nakayama, High performance committee, Japanese Rugby Football Union, Minato, Tokyo 1070061, Japan
Haruhiko Sato, Department of Neurosurgery/Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital, Shizuoka 4338558, Japan
Haruko Hirai, Graduete school of comprehensive human sciences/Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 3058557, Japan
Morihiro Saito, Safety management committee, Japanese Rugby Football Union, Minato, Tokyo 1070061, Japan
Zenko Miyazaki, Faculty of data sciences/Rissho University, Kumagaya, Saitama 3600161, Japan
Takashi Katsuta, High Performance Sport Centre/Japan Sport Council, Minato, Tokyo 1070061, Japan
Ichiro Kono, Graduete school of comprehensive human sciences/Tsukuba University, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 3058557, Japan

Abstract
The aim of this study was to grasp the injury situation of Japanese female rugby players in 2020-2021 by network analysis with psychological condition under COVID19 (June 1-30, 2021). The number of respondents was 302. 60% reported serious injuries. The parts were ankle, knee, shoulder, head, etc. Symptoms are ligament / bone / muscle damage or concussion. The caused plays were tackle/tackled, running with no physical contact, etc. There were 39 head injuries. Some ones played while continuing long-term treatment such as knees and ankles. Approximate 40 % of players injured once were injured twice again, and approximate 40% of players injured twice were injured a third time. 30% of all respondents had some chronic symptoms. Network analysis revealed a structure with multiple chronic symptoms (head, shoulders, knees, ankles), a structure of multiple parts of injuries in a single play, and a structure in which the same parts were repeatedly injured in a year. Some players suffered concussions after knee injuries. It suggested the possibility that the physical safety management skills to protect the head might be inferior due to insufficient recovery of knee function as a negative injury chain structure.

Keywords
rugby union, female injury, network structure

Cite this paper
Koh Sasaki, Kensuke Iwabuchi, Ichiro Watanabe, Akihiko Nakamura, Takumi Yamamoto, Keiko Asami, Tetsuya Tsubakiha, Mitsuyuki Nakayama, Haruhiko Sato, Haruko Hirai, Morihiro Saito, Zenko Miyazaki, Takashi Katsuta, Ichiro Kono, Clarifying the structure of repeated serious injuries on female rugby players , SCIREA Journal of Clinical Medicine. Volume 7, Issue 1, February 2022 | PP. 39-53. 10.54647/cm32766

References

[ 1 ] Fuller, C.W., Brooks, J.H., & Kemp, S.P. Spinal injuries in professional rugby union: a prospective cohort study. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 17(1), 10–16, doi: 10.1097/JSM.0b013e31802e9c28 (2007).
[ 2 ] Silver, J.R. The impact of the 21st century on rugby injuries. Spinal Cord. 40(11), 552–559. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3101349 (2002)
[ 3 ] Quarrie, K., Gianotti, S., & Murphy, I. Injury Risk in New Zealand Rugby Union: A Nationwide Study of Injury Insurance Claims from 2005 to 2017. Sports Medicine. 50, 415–428, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-019-01176-9 (2020).
[ 4 ] Sasaki et al. Clarifying the structure of serious head and spine injury in youth Rugby Union players. PLOS ONE. 15(7), e0235035. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235035 (2020).
[ 5 ] Sasaki, K., Watanabe, I., Yamamoto, T., Yamashita, S., Tanaka, A., and Okuwaki, T. An empirical study of Japanese women's rugby injury 2016. Japanese Journal of Rugby Science. 28(1), 56-60 (2017a).
[ 6 ] Manning, K.Y. et al. Longitudinal changes of brain microstructure and function in nonconcussed female rugby players. Neurology. 95 (4), e402-412, https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000009821 (2020).
[ 7 ] Abuín-Porras, B. et al. Comparison of the Abdominal Wall Muscle Thickness in Female Rugby Players Versus Non-Athletic Women: A Cross-Sectional Study. Medicina. 56(1), 1-9, https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina56010008 (2020).
[ 8 ] Tucker, R., Raftery M, Kemp S, et al. Risk factors for head injury events in professional rugby union: a video analysis of 464 head injury events to inform proposed injury prevention strategies. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 51, 1152–7, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2017-097895 (2017).
[ 9 ] Japanese Rugby Football Union, 2020 Team registrations report. (2020).
[ 10 ] Chermann, J.F., et al., Return to Rugby After Brain Concussion: A Prospective Study in 35 High Level Rugby Players. Asian Journal of sports medicine. 5(4), e24042 doi: 10.5812/asjsm.24042 (2014).
[ 11 ] Shelborne, K.D. et al. Posterior Tibial Slope in Patients Undergoing Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Patellar Tendon Autograft: Analysis of Subsequent ACL Graft Tear or Contralateral ACL Tear. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 49(3), 620-625, https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546520982241 (2020).
[ 12 ] Iverson, G.L., Network Analysis and Precision Rehabilitation for the Post-concussion Syndrome. Frontiers in Neurology, 10, 489, https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2019.00489 (2019).
[ 13 ] Pereira, V. H., Gama, M.C.T., Sousa, F.A.B., Lewis, T.G., Gobatto, C.A., & Manchado-Gobatto, F.B. Complex network models reveal correlations among network metrics, exercise intensity and role of body changes in the fatigue process. Scientific Report. 5, 10489 https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10489 (2015).
[ 14 ] Suzuki, T. Network Analysis.2nd.ed. Tokyo (JPN): Kyouritsu Shuppan (2017).
[ 15 ] Sasaki, K., Yamamoto, T., Miyao, M., Katsuta, T., and Kono, I. Network centrality analysis to determine the tactical leader of a sports team. International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 17(6), 822-831, https://doi.org/10.1080/24748668.2017.1402283 (2017b).
[ 16 ] Kearney, P.E., and See, J., Misunderstandings of concussion within a youth rugby population. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 20(11), 981-985, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2017.04.019 (2017).
[ 17 ] Tierney, G.J., Richter, C., Denvir, K., Simms, C.K., Could lowering the tackle height in rugby union reduce ball carrier inertial head kinematics? Journal of Biomechanics. 72(27), 29-36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.02.023 (2018).
[ 18 ] Davidow, D., Quarrie, K., Viljoen, W., Burger, N., Tackle technique of rugby union players during head impact tackles compared to injury free tackles. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport,21(10), 1025-1031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2018.04.003 (2018).
[ 19 ] Brown, J.C. et al. Non-sanctioning of illegal tackles in South African youth community rugby, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 21(6), 631-634, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2017.10.016 (2018).
[ 20 ] King, D.A., et al., Head impact exposure from match participation in women’s rugby league over one season of domestic competition. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 21(2), 139-146, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2017.10.026 (2018).
[ 21 ] Hunzinger, K.J., Costantini, K.M., BuzSwank, C., Buckly, T.A. Diagnosed concussion is associated with increased risk for lower extremity injury in community rugby players. Journal of science and medicine in sport. 24(4), 368-372, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2020.10.013 (2021).
[ 22 ] Pfaff, L.M., Michael, E., and Cinelli, M.E. The effects of sport specific training of rugby players on avoidance behaviors during a head-on collision course with an approaching person. Human Movement Science. 62, 105-115, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.humov.2018.09.010 (2018).
[ 23 ] Formenti, D., Trecroci, A., Duca, M., Cavaggioni, L., D’Angelo1, F., Passi, A., Longo, S., and Alberti, G. Differences in inhibitory control and motor fitness in children practicing open and closed skill sports. Scientific report. 11, 4033, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82698-z (2021).
[ 24 ] Formenti, D. et al. Perceptual vision training in non-sport-specific context: effect on performance skills and cognition in young females. Scientific report. 9, 18671, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-55252-1 (2019).
[ 25 ] Gill, S.D. et al. Gender differences in female and male Australian Football injuries - A prospective observational study of emergency department presentations. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 24(7), 670-676, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2021.02.011 (2021).
[ 26 ] Russell, J.D., Neil, E.L., Victor G., Carrión, V.G., and Weems, C.F. The Network Structure of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Children and Adolescents Exposed to Disasters. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 56(8), 669-677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.05.021 (2017).
[ 27 ] Legarreta, A.D. et al. The role of family and personal psychiatric history in post concussion syndrome following sport-related concussion: a story of compounding risk. Journal of Neurosurg Pediatr. 22, 238–243, https://doi.org/10.3171/2018.3.PEDS1850 (2018).