Concussion Recognition & Evaluation

Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

"Friday Night Tykes": Episode 3

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Wed, 01/22/2014 - 15:51. | comments

 

As was the case with the two-hour premiere, the third episode of "Friday Night Tykes" on the Esquire Network continued to be "must see" television for youth football parents for its educational value. Here are some of the safety issues it raised, with links to MomsTEAM content for further reading.
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Risk Factors For Sports Concussion: Only Concussion History, Game Action Certain To Increase Risk, Study Finds

Previous concussions and match play are all but certain to increase the risk of concussions, but the jury is still out on whether other factors, such as sex, playing position, playing level, style of play, environment and injury mechanism, also increase concussion risk, finds a first-of-its-kind, evidence-based systematic review of the scientific literature.
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Baseline Neurocognitive Testing For Younger Athletes: Extra Vigilance Required

A greater proportion of baseline neurocognitive test results for pre-high school athletes are invalid, particularly when they are tested in large group setting. The results are a warning, say experts, that computerized baseline testing programs for younger athletes will require even greater vigilance, caution, individualized attention, and administrative resources than testing among older athletes.
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Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

High School Football Playoffs: Not A Time For Concussion Safety To Take Back Seat To Winning

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Thu, 11/21/2013 - 21:52. | comments


As the 2013 high school football season enters the home stretch, with teams fighting to stay alive in the playoffs, or preparing for traditional end-of-the-season games on Thanksgiving morning, the risk of concussion is an ever-present concern. 

Football player holding his head

But now is not the time to put winning ahead of safety.

Even in the best of times, studies show that high school football players face what one recently called a ‘culture of resistance' to reporting to sideline personnel that they are experiencing concussion symptoms.

As the 2013 high school football season enters the home stretch, with teams fighting to stay alive in the playoffs, or preparing for traditional end-of-the-season games on Thanksgiving morning, the risk of concussion is an ever-present concern. But now is not the time to put winning ahead of safety.
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Baseline Neurocognitive Testing: Three New Studies Highlight Difficulty Of Obtaining Valid Results

The use of baseline and postconcussion computerized neurocognitive testing has become an increasingly common practice in the assessment and management of concussions at the college, high school, and even youth level. But, as three new studies show, obtaining baseline test results reflecting a valid assessment of an athlete's "true" baseline ability needed for comparison to postinjury performance is fraught with challenges.
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Brooke de Lench
Brooke de Lench

New Concussion Report's Failure To Discuss Impact Monitoring Unfortunate Omission

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 15:34. | comments

The MomsTEAM staff and I are still digging into the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council's three-hundred-some-odd page report on sports-related concussions in youth sports,[1]  but one thing jumped out at me at my first pass: When I did a search in the report for a discussion of impact monitoring devices (a/k/a hit sensors), I found only one brief mention of sensors in the committee's recommendation that the Centers for Disease Control fund large scale data collection efforts for research purposes, including data from impact sensors.

Conspicuous by its absence from the new IOM/NRC report on concussions in youth sports was any mention of the use of real-time impact monitoring systems on the sports sideline. Unfortunately, the lack of any such discussion will just end up making it that much more difficult to get the message out that the benefits of real-time impact monitoring, and place an additional obstacle in the path to their use.
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Baseline Neurocognitive Testing: Is It Really Necessary?

While computerized neuropsychological testing has become increasingly popular in concussion management in recent years, its use, particularly the need for baseline NP testing, remains controversial and, if anything, the trend appears to be away from recommending routine testing of all athletes, or even all athletes in contact or collision sports with a high risk of concussion.

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'Culture of Resistance' for Self-Reporting Concussions, Study Finds

Young athletes in the U.S. face a "culture of resistance" to reporting when they might have a concussion and to complying with treatment plans, which could endanger their well-being, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council.
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Concussion Identification and Removal from Play: It's All About the "Five E's"

To minimize the risk of delayed recovery from concussion, long-term injury, or, in rare instances, catastrophic injury or death, it is critical that athletes suspected of having sustained a concussion are removed from play as early as possible.  the chances that a concussion will be identified early on the sports sideline can be maximized by following a multi-pronged approach utilizing the "Five E's." 
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PBS Stations Begin Airing "The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer"

The Brooke de Lench documentary, "The Smartest Team: Making High School Football Safer," will be broadcast on PBS affiliate stations across the country beginning September 17, 2013.
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