A concussion is a relatively common sports-related injury that affects athletes of all ages. Although not expected to replace sports medicine physicians and neurologists with regard to the management of concussions, orthopaedic surgeons, particularly those who are fellowship-trained in sports medicine, must have a current knowledge base of what a concussion is, how a concussion is diagnosed, an...

CONTEXT Lack of empirical data on recovery time following sport-related concussion hampers clinical decision making about return to play after injury. OBJECTIVE To prospectively measure immediate effects and natural recovery course relating to symptoms, cognitive functioning, and postural stability following sport-related concussion. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective cohort stud...

Purpose: Sport-related concussion can affect many domains of a patient’s health status. Social functioning is an important consideration, especially for adolescent athletes. Our purpose was to explore athletes’ social perspectives regarding sport and concussion. Methods: Using qualitative study design we interviewed 12 interscholastic athletes who had sustained sport-related The interviews focu...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although concussion is common among athletes, evidence-based methods for clinical evaluation, treatment, and recovery are lacking. We used a prospective, functional neuroimaging approach to assess sports-related concussion in which imaging was performed before injury so that brain changes resulting from concussion could be better understood. METHODS Neurophysiologic cor...

Concussion has a long and interesting history spanning at least the 5 millennia of written medical record and closely mirrors the development of surgery and neurosurgery. Not surprisingly, much of the past and present experimental head injury and concussion work has been performed within neurosurgically driven laboratories or by several surgically oriented neurologists. This historical review c...

MAIN TEXT Several countries, such as Canada, are in the process of defining strategies to address the public health problem of sport-related concussions. One of the challenges is to develop strategies that can apply at the earlier levels where the timely availability of qualified healthcare resources is limited. Here, I respectfully challenge the notion that every athlete with suspected concuss...

OBJECTIVES To determine teacher knowledge of (1) concussion symptomatology, (2) dissemination preferences, and (3) classroom management practices of student concussions. STUDY DESIGN A cross-sectional survey assessing concussion-related information was completed by teachers/instructors in the state of Alabama. RESULTS One-hundred and thirty participants completed the survey. Only a quarter ...

protocols. T he word “concussion” derives from the Latin concussus, which means to shake violently. Concussion was initially felt to involve only transient disturbance of brain function without gross structural change. It is now recognized that some concussions do involve structural damage with loss of neurons. Sports concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process af fecting the ...

Sports-related concussion is an injury that continues to receive attention from both the popular media and sports medicine community. The many different symptom presentations and cognitive decrements that follow concussions, have made this injury difficult to detect and manage. Furthermore, concussed athletes should not always be entrusted to appropriately self-report their concussion symptoms;...