Sunday, May 13, 2012

An update on pediatric concussions

Think of a concussion as a blow or jolt to the brain that causes (temporary) brain dysfunction. In the acute setting, the symptoms usually include at least one of the following: confusion, memory loss (amnesia), or loss of consciousness (LOC).  LOC is NOT a requirement to diagnose a concussion.

As an avid sports fan and a parent of two young children, I have been particularly disturbed by the recent data on head injuries in sports.  As we learn more about both the short-term and long-term effects of concussions (aka minor traumatic brain injury or mTBI), parents, health care providers, coaches and especially young athletes themselves need to learn how to prevent concussions, how to recognize the concussions that do occur, and how to resist the temptation of too rapid return to learn (RTL) and play (RTP). Not knowing enough about these brain injuries can have catastrophic consequences. For example, failure to follow the guidelines for appropriate return to play can result in death by a process known as "second impact syndrome".

There are many resources on this topic, but one of the best places to look is www.cdc.gov/concussion. This is a rich resource (partially funded by the NFL) of written and multimedia information on concussion prevention, recognition, and appropriate management.
For individual stories about concussions and concussion management, check out: www.cdc.gov/concussion/sports/stories.html
Other sources of quality and continually updated information on this topic are: www.healthychildren.org; www.uptodate.com/patients; and www.chop.edu/service/concussion-care-for-kids/home.html.
Fortunately, we have a growing number of resources for the management of concussions in Houston, West Houston, and Katy. Contact our office at 713-467-1741 for more info on local pediatric sports medicine, neuropsychology, and neurology resources that focus on the age-appropriate management of these potentially life-altering injuries.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

March 26, 2013
Here is an interesting addendum to my original blog post above. The link is to a November 2012 blog entry on youth football safety by Dr. Jorge Gomez, a Sports Medicine Specialist at TCH West Campus and an assistant team physician for the University of Houston Cougars. www.texaschildrensblog.org/2012/11/is-youth-football-safe/

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