Fencing Related Fatalities
Taken from: Epidemiology of Sports Injuries, D. Caine, C. Caine, K. Lindner (eds.), Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, pp. 186-195 (1996), chapter 12, section 4.2. The complete chapter can be found online at http://www.exra.org/FencingChptr.htm
Injuries resulting in death or permanent disability rarely occur in modern competitive fencing. Only seven fatalities have been recorded since 1937, and most of these have occurred in highly skilled competitors in elite competition (5, 7, 13, 14, 16). All fatalities have been male fencers; five of seven deaths involved epée, with foil and sabre one each, and broken blades were responsible for the fatal wound in six of the seven cases. Four fatalities resulted from penetration of the thorax, with one or both lungs punctured and laceration of at least one major blood vessel in each case. The other three deaths involved neck (one case) and head (two cases) wounds. The two head wounds resulted from broken blades penetrating the mask (13, 16), whereas the mortal neck wound followed a broken blade slipping under the mask and penetrating the trachea and left common carotid artery(5). Two of the thoracic fatalities occurred before plastrons (underarm protectors) were mandatory. The second incident was, in fact, the impetus for the introduction of the plastron (13). Changes in equipment standards (design, strength, type of materials) generally have followed catastrophic incidents. However, all fatalities subsequent to the introduction of the plastron have occurred to fencers utilizing equipment that met at least the minimum standards set by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE), the international governing body for the sport. Unfortunately, the force generated by elite athletes seems to be increasing even beyond the accelerating standards for the structural integrity of fencing equipment (4, 7). In the most recent death, the athlete was using the highest standard equipment available (14).
Several characteristics or mechanisms that may contribute (either singly or in combination) to blade breakage, force of penetration, or both and result in death have been postulated based on the seven incidents discussed here. Most often noted are a right-handed fencer fencing a left-handed fencer, the use of orthopaedic grips, and the propensity to make counterattacks (4, 13). Each of these characteristics was present in a majority of the fatalities (although in different combinations). Further research is needed to determine if modifying one or more of these characteristics would decrease the risk of sustaining a catastrophic injury.
Although anecdotal evidence suggests that penetrating wounds (especially thoracic) of varying severity occur more frequently than is generally realized, fatalities or permanent disabilities are extreme aberrations. Without adequate exposure data, it is not possible to calculate accurately the risk of catastrophic injuries in fencing. Given seven fatalities over the tens of thousands of athlete exposures in elite competition during the past 60 years, it seems reasonable to argue that the risk is minimal. During the 25 years from the late 1930s to the early 1960s only three deaths occurred, and none were reported during the next 20 years (early 1960s-early 1980s). However, four catastrophic incidents have been noted in the last 13 years (1982-1994) despite increasingly stringent structural standards applied to fencing equipment. With a fine line separating penetrating wounds and catastrophic injuries, careful monitoring (reporting and recording) of penetrating wounds of all types must be undertaken on an international level to determine whether the risk of significant or mortal injury is changing.
References
Posted: 7 July 2003
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