Care of The Older Fighter: Position Statement of the Association of Ringside Physicians

ABSTRACT

Older Fighters are defined as combat sports athletes older than 35 years, based on heightened medical risks and historical classification. Age-related changes to the neurological, cardiopulmonary, endocrinological, thermoregulatory, osmoregulatory, and musculoskeletal systems increase these athletes’ risks for injury and may prolong their recovery. These age-related risks warrant special considerations for competition, licensure, prefight medical clearance, in-fight supervision, post-fight examination, and counseling regarding training practices and retirement from combat sports. Neurological considerations include increased risk of intracranial lesions, intracranial hemorrhage, and sequelae from traumatic brain injury (TBI), warranting more comprehensive neurological evaluation and neuroimaging. Increased risk of myocardial ischemia and infarction warrant careful assessment of cardiac risk factors and scrutiny of cardiovascular fitness. Older fighters may take longer time to recover from musculoskeletal injury; post-injury clearance should be individualized.

KEYWORDS:

• Boxing
• MMA
• combat sports
• older athlete
• high-risk combatant
• medical clearance
• physiological changes
• neuroimaging
• cardiovascular risk assessment
• orthopedic injury

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.