Clinical evaluation of ophthalmic findings in active, amateur, adult, competitive male boxers in India.

Background: In the popular fighting sport of boxing, opponents strike each other above the belt line in the face, chest, and belly. The physical parts most exposed are therefore the nose and eyes. In amateur boxing, fights go only three rounds - three minutes for men and one minute for women - with a one-minute break in between. They wear gloves, but the head protection used in the men's game has been removed by AIBA due to the high likelihood of concussion when using head protection. Because chronic ocular changes may take longer than the expected short-term effects, this study included at least 3 years of competitive sports participation. Study design and setting: Institutional-based cross-sectional study. Materials and methods: To evaluate ophthalmic outcomes, 200 eyes of 100 active amateur, adult, and competitive male boxers were studied. Results: Of the 100 boxers, 51 had ophthalmic changes in at least one eye, and 49 had normal eyes. The average age of boxers was 24.98 years. The average duration of boxing training was 7.04 years. Healed eyelid scars, subconjunctival hemorrhages, conjunctival papillae, traumatic mydriasis, posterior synechiae, angulation abnormalities, traumatic cataracts, lens subluxation, increased intraocular pressure, and peripapillary atrophy were observed on the ocular side. None of these could be attributed to boxing. Conclusion: Boxing-related eye injuries are common in India and the most common vision-threatening eye abnormalities include traumatic cataracts, lens subluxation, and angle abnormalities. Surprisingly, no macular lesions were found on physical examination and OCT. Additional studies with a larger number of boxers will be needed to evaluate and prevent clinical symptoms. All boxers should have a complete eye exam regularly. Abbreviations: AIBA = Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, OCT = Optical Coherence Tomography.