Archery injuries: A literature review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Archery is one of the oldest human skills that survived to the present day. At first, it was used for hunting and war and later became a sport. The interest in archery has grown annually. Each type of sport has specific injuries. Information about archery-related injuries will allow us to develop preventive measures and help make this sport safer. The article will be useful for coaches, sports doctors, physiotherapists, and orthopedic surgeons. AIM: To present modern information about frequency, types of archery-related injuries, and preventive methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The publication search was performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE databases from 1978 to 2023 using combinations of OR, AND operators, and keywords: archery, archery injuries, rotator cuff injuries, arrow injuries, and overuse. Consequently, we extracted 49 foreign and domestic scientific sources. RESULTS: Archery injuries occur in 4.4 per 10,000 people involved in this sport. Acute injuries in archers are rare, mainly due to shooting errors and most often lead to soft tissue damage because of a fracture of a bow, arrow, or bowstring during a shot (83.3%) or as a result of touching the bowstring with a bow. Chronic injuries occur in 83.9% of archery athletes. The main risk factors for their occurrence include overuse, high repetitions during training, lack of strength of the athlete, and incorrect technique. Overuse (67.9%) is the most common cause of chronic tendon, ligament, and joint injuries. Injuries occurred in 30%–53% of cases in the shoulders (rotator cuff tear, scapular dyskinesia, and shoulder impingement syndrome), 12.8% in the elbow (medial and lateral epicondylitis and traumatic bursitis), 8.9%–19.9% in the spine and forearm (chronic tendovaginitis and tunnel syndromes). CONCLUSIONS: Proper training and safety measures help prevent acute injuries. Practicing archery techniques and strength training are the main measures of preventing muscle overuse and reducing the incidence of chronic injuries.