Orofacial Injuries Patterns in Brazilian Jiu-Jítsu Athletes

To preliminarily investigate the occurrence of orofacial injuries in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu athletes. Male and female Jiu-Jitsu athletes residing in municipalities scattered throughout Brazil, answered an online questionnaire consisting of 12 closed questions, through the Google Forms platform. The data were analyzed, categorized and presented as percentages. The study sample consisted of 460 subjects. A total of 1,010 injuries were reported, the most prevalent injuries being upper lips 184 (18.2%), lower lips 181 (17.9%) and nose 132 (13.0%). 302 (65.5%) fighters reported no mouthguard use and only 58 (36.5%) reported individualizer mouthguard utilization. Considering orofacial trauma events, 60.4% reported having suffered at least one occurrence related to Jiu-Jitsu, with these injuries being more prevalent during training sessions. The regions with the highest frequency of injuries were upper lips, lower lips and nose. Analyzing the influence of the Jiu-Jitsu practice period and the frequency of injury occurrence, it was observed that traumatic events increase alongside the practice period. Also, only 36.5% use an individualized mouthguard.