Citation

Braham R, Finch CF, McCrory P. J. Sci. Med. Sport 2004; 7(4): 451-453.

Affiliation

Sports Injury Prevention Research Unit, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, Sports Medicine Australia, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15712501

Abstract

Injuries to the head/neck/orofacial region are common in contact and collision sports such as Australian Football. A total of 294 players who did not wear headgear from 23 teams from a large metropolitan community football league in Victoria, Australia, were monitored for head/neck/orofacial injuries over one playing season. This short report describes the incidence of head/neck/orofacial injuries in this cohort. Overall, there were 37 head/neck/orofacial injuries reported at a rate of 2.6 injuries/1000 participation hours. Over 70% of these were the result of being struck by another player through inadvertent contact during competitive play. Facial lacerations were most common (0.97/1000 player hours), followed by concussion (0.49/1000 player hours). Nine of the cases were referred to hospital for further treatment.