Research on Concussion Management in Sports: Part 1 - by Brace Hayden

The following information was graciously provided by Alpine Physical Therapist Brace Hayden, DPT, OCS, CSCS.

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Last month a variety of faculty from University of Montana (UM) School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, the Athletic Training Education Department, along with a handful of local physical therapists met for the monthly journal article discussion group.

The topic this month centered on current research behind concussion management in sports. This hot topic has captured the attention of the national press as well as athletes, coaches, parents, and multidisciplinary healthcare providers and researchers. The highly charged debate about concussion management lies in providing a guideline that can easily assess the severity of the possible traumatic head injury and when it is appropriate for the athlete to safely return to his or her sport.

The take home messages from the round table discussion were:

1. Pre-season baseline cognitive, balance, and general headache-free activity level testing of each athlete should be required to best assess possible post-concussive head injury.
2. The UM Athletic Training Department is using standardized guideline (based on 2008 Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport from a conference in Zurich) that attempts to consistently define the severity, then stage the athlete’s concussion. The guideline allows a graded staging of rehabilitation needs, which exercises are appropriate or activities are inappropriate, and objective goals to be met at each stage.
3. The adolescent brain and the adult brain are significantly different in terms of staging and recovering from a concussion.  There are a lot of “unknowns” in the developing adolescent athlete’s brain, which makes concussion management quite difficult.
4. The human brain will never fully recover from a traumatic head injury. A second concussion on top of a primary concussion can be fatal if the athlete is allowed to return to sport too early.
5. Athletes need 6-7 days of recovery after the primary concussion symptoms (ie. headaches, confusion, dizziness) are reduced.
6. Taking an athlete out of their sport has proven to be quite difficult due to motivation on the part of the coach, parent, athlete to “play on through” a minor ding or bell-ringer.

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More information on this topic can be found at a great website put together by Idaho State University: KnowConcussion.org.