Protective neck equipment advised for hurling and camogie, study says

Protective neck equipment when playing hurling and camogie is needed as related injuries can be potentially fatal, a new study shows.

Such injuries also known as laryngeal are uncommon but pose a serious risk to the voice and airway of athletes who sustain blunt neck trauma.

The study, Hurling and Camogie Related Blunt Laryngeal Trauma, published in this month’s Irish Medical Journal, found that protective equipment should be urgently considered by the governing sports body.

Symptoms after blunt trauma to the neck, highlight how they can be subtle and delayed in onset.

Sports physicians should be attentive to even minor anterior neck trauma and not be distracted by other more obvious facial and neck injuries and be carried out by experienced medical practitioners.

The study authors raise concerns over the fact that there is no restriction on the height to which the hurley may be raised, or to the projection of the ball, with speeds reaching up to 160 km/h and in air contests often leading to traumatic player-player collisions.

It is therefore, they say, “not surprising that, compared with other team sports, hurling has a very high injury rate of 102 hours per 1,000 hours of match play at the elite level, compared to 91, 12, 11 hours for rugby, lacrosse, and ice hockey respectively.”

It accounts for around 40 per cent of all sports related injuries seen in Irish hospitals.

The authors, based at University Hospital Waterford, say that the introduction of protective headgear resulted in an 80 per cent drop in hurling related ocular injuries seen in regional hospitals in Ireland and protective gear needs to be urgently considered for potentially fatal neck injuries.

A retrospective analysis was undertaken of all hurling or