Author(s): POCECCO, E., BURTSCHER, J., DE CRÉE, C., SANTOS, L., FEDEROLF, P., PIERANTOZZI, E., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF INNSBRUCK, Country: AUSTRIA, Abstract-ID: 2619

INTRODUCTION:
“Suwari-seoi-nage” (SSN) is a quite common judo technique. When throwing using SSN, the attacker drops him- or herself to both knees after a body rotation. Therefore, it is regarded as a technique with substantial self-harm potential. However, injury rates and related risk factors associated with SSN, especially considering sex-specific differences, scarcely have been explored.
Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate injury rates, characteristics, and related risk factors associated with performing SSN, focusing primarily on sex-specific differences.
METHODS:
Data were retrospectively collected through an online survey distributed worldwide among the judo community addressing current as well as former male and female advanced (minimum brown belt) adult judo practitioners of all weight divisions and competitive levels. The survey, available in ten different languages on Google Forms, included 46 semi-standardized items aiming to collect, among others, information on possible acute traumas linked to performing SSN during their judo career.
Statistical analysis included Shapiro-Wilk test, Levene’s test, contingency tables, Chi-square test and Mann-Whitney U-test.
RESULTS:
Of the 598 surveyed judo athletes (23% women) of 71 nationalities, 86% used SSN during their active career, either during training or competition, men more frequently than women (p < 0.01). No significant differences between sexes concerning the frequency of winning a fight (ippon score) using SSN were observed. About 43% of the participants experienced one or more acute injuries performing SSN. These occurred more frequently during training than competition, typically affected the knee in both sexes, and were oftentimes a consequence of the opponent’s defense or self-reported inadequate execution of the technique. Notably, men experienced more frequently ankle injuries as a result of SSN execution compared to women (p = 0.015). While women mainly reported having been diagnosed by medical physical examination only (p = 0.001), related injuries in men were more often diagnosed following clinical imaging. The most frequently self-reported injury types were ligamentous injuries, including sprains, followed by contusions for both sexes.
CONCLUSION:
SSN was used more frequently by men than by women, and there were no sex-specific differences in knee injury rates. Despite the limitations entailed by the cross-sectional study design and self-reported responses, this study represents a first step towards understanding possible sex-specific risk factors associated with utilizing SSN. The results emphasize the necessity for raising awareness and implementing effective preventive measures for judo practitioners using SSN. In particular, future research should investigate why men use SSN more often than women and whether SSN-related injuries may lead to modification of the technical repertoire or even cause a premature dropout of affected talented female judo athletes.