Sports-Related Concussions & Subconcussive Injuries

The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) warns athletes and their parents to be skeptical of claims that products such as head bands, supplements or mouth guards reduce the incidence of concussion because none supported by scientific research and peer-reviewed studies.

Children and young adults scanned multiple times by computed tomography (CT), a commonly used diagnostic tool, have a small increased risk of leukemia and brain tumors in the decade following their first scan, says a new study reported in the British medical journal, The Lancet.

A week of strict cognitive and physical rest significantly improves performance of concussed athletes on neurocognitive tests and decreases severity of post-concussion symptoms, a first-of-its-kind study finds. The beneficial effects of the week of rest were seen whether the rest came soon after a concussion or even weeks to months later.

The King-Devick Test, a simple two-minute test of rapid eye movement, is an accurate "remove-from-play" sideline concussion assessment tool finds a new study by researchers in New Zealand. The rugby study confirms the value of the K-D test as an accurate and reliable method for quick assessment of concussion.

Because adolescent athletes assess their recovery from concussions based on only a small subset of potential symptoms, such self-reports should not be used as the sole factor in return-to-play decisions, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who urge that neurocognitive testing results also be considered by clinicians.

Many sports concussion go undetected, say experts, either because athletes fail to self-report concussion symptoms, or because sideline personnel lack the necessary training and experience to identify concussed athletes.  The best way to address the problem of under-reporting may be not to rely on the athletes themselves, game officials, or even sideline observers to call for a concussion assessment, but to use sophisticated helmet sensors to measure impacts to get around the problem altogether.

Nine football helmets have earned five stars in the 2014 Virginia Tech STARHelmet Ratings,^TM but experts, including the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, say the results should be viewed with caution in light of a host of methodological limitations.