Wheelchair fencing is a sport for para-athletes with physical disabilities. To minimize the impacts of disability, para-athletes are divided into three functional categories: A (highest functionality), B and C (lowest functionality). The sport emerged as a rehabilitation process but has evolved into a high-performance sport. With this evolution, para-athletes have begun to face a greater training load, which can increase the incidence of injuries. In this context, accurate identification of diagnoses and analysis of risk factors are essential for the implementation of preventive strategies.

To identify the diagnosis and risk factors of sports injuries in wheelchair fencing para-athletes during a national championship.

This is a prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted with male and female wheelchair fencing para-athletes during the Brazilian Para-fencing Championship. The Sports Injury Protocol in Paralympic Sports (PLEEP) questionnaire was used to collect information on injury diagnoses, which were obtained from the medical department during the championship. A quantitative analysis of the data was performed using descriptive statistics.

Fifty wheelchair fencing athletes participated in this study, 56% male and 44% female, with a mean age of 30.92 (±11.14) years. Regarding the functional categories of the athletes, 62% were in category A and 36% in category B. During the championship, 16 injuries were recorded, 62.5% of which were in the upper limbs. The diagnoses of injuries included effort-induced muscle disorder (43.75%), contusion (25%), blister (18.75%), and abrasion (12.5%). Regarding the risk factors related to the diagnoses, it was observed that 25% of the effort-induced disorders were associated with repetitive movements with the armed arm, and 18.75% with movements specific to the modality. For bruises, 12.5% ??were related to blows with the tip or blade of the combat weapon and 12.5% ??to the transfer of the wheelchair. Regarding blisters, 12.5% were associated with the use of protective equipment (gloves) and 6.25% to the use of the combat wheelchair (holding the support bar during combat). Abrasions were related to blows with the tip or blade of the combat weapon (12.5%).

The results of this study indicate that the upper limbs are the most affected region by injuries among wheelchair fencing para-athletes, with exercise-induced disorder being the most frequent diagnosis. Risk factors such as repetitive and modality-specific movements were frequently associated with these injuries.

The identification of the types of injuries and their risk factors contributes to the identification of modality-specific prevention demands, providing greater safety in the practice of sports by para-athletes.