A five-year study of injuries mixed Cirque Du Soleil performers showed the same patterns of injuries repeatedly found amid elite athletes in prompted by emulation sports. The study, released today at the 55th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), is the first step in developing an injury prevention program to document the frequency and types of injuries that occur among artists in performance companies like Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque du Soleil shows, well-known for their stylish blending of circus and theater, mark artists who perform activities similar to highly competitive sports and activities like athletics, diving, and dance. This study monitored the artists’ frequency of injuries according to anatomical location and type.

Researchers accessed the Cirque du Soleil injury database, noting a total of 18,000 injuries from 2002 to 2006. Lower extremity injuries of the knee and ankle were most common. The shoulder represented half of all injuries to the upper utmost distress. Most injuries were to muscles and tendons (approximately 45 percent). Fractures and section efficient injuries, including concussions, were very rare (less than 5 percent together). Overall, there was no difference in the anatomical location or types of injuries suffered by males and females, and the pattern of injuries has remained consistent from year to year.

"The common types of injuries you see in trained elite athletes are not unlike what the Cirque du Soleil artists are experiencing when they get injured. There are acute injuries such as sprains and strains, and overuse injuries such as tendonopathies," said Ian Shrier M.D., Ph.D., FACSM. "After they rehab, just like other athletes, they have the opportunity to return-to-performance. It takes high caliber conditioning and discipline to be a Cirque actor, just in the manner that it does be an elite athlete in any sport."

According to Cirque du Soleil, they plan to appliance the injury surveillance data to establish potential injury trends, develop and implement strategies in regular arrangement to minimize detriment rates and ultimately further protect the artist’s physical integrity and optimize their performance longevity.