Pediatrics
Newly published recommendations for pediatric sport-related concussion
On December 4, 2023, the International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport issued a consensus statement for managing sport-related concussion (SRC) among children and adolescents. The authors note the following:
- Lower SRC rates are seen with prevention strategies, including use of mouth guards, policies disallowing bodychecking in ice hockey, and neuromuscular training in rugby among adolescents.
- Robustness with the parent and child symptom scales was seen for the Sports Concussion Assessment Tools, with the best diagnostic discrimination within the first 72 hours after injury.
- Subacute evaluation in the first 72 hours requires a multimodal tool incorporating symptom scales, balance measures, cognitive, oculomotor and vestibular, mental health, and sleep assessment, to which end the Sport Concussion Office Assessment Tools (SCOAT6 [13+] and Child SCOAT6 [8-12]) were developed.
- Early return to light physical activity and reduced screen time facilitate recovery rather than strict rest.
- For adolescents with dizziness, neck pain, and/or headache for more than 10 days, cervicovestibular rehabilitation is recommended.
- For adolescents with persisting symptoms for more than 30 days, active rehabilitation and collaborative care may reduce symptoms.
- For diagnosing persisting symptoms after concussion, no tests and measures other than standardized and validated symptom rating scales are valid.
- For diagnosing or assessing recovery from SRC, fluid and imaging biomarkers currently have limited clinical utility.
Source:
Davis GA, et al. (2023, December 4). Pediatrics. Pediatric Sport-related Concussion: Recommendations From the Amsterdam Consensus Statement 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38044802/