Concussion Literature Review

All athletes must be aware of the looming risk of concussion—especially adolescents who are at an increased risk of sustaining permanent damage. In addition, athletes must understand the harm of a concussion and not take the matter lightly. Concussions have been studied extensively for decades, shining much-needed light on the previously unexplored subject. Being knowledgeable of all signs and symptoms, cognizant of effects lasting one day to a lifetime, and informed of all return to play guidelines is imperative to the safety of every athlete. This review will cite many articles including, “Blood Biomarkers for Brain Injury in Concussed Professional Hockey Players”, “Pediatric Sports Specific Return to Play Guidelines for Adolescents and Children”

Symptoms, alternatively, are subjective and can only be described by the person feeling them. The “Concussion Symptoms Scale and Sideline Assessment Tools” article mentions every symptom, obvious or minute. Symptoms include, headache, pressure in head, neck pain, dizziness, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to noise, feeling slowed down, state of being “in a fog”, overall just don’t feel quite right, difficulty focusing, difficulty with memory, low energy, puzzlement, sleepiness, anxiety, insomnia, or even sleeping more than usual are all potential symptoms that can indicate a concussion. It is important to remember that all concussions show at least one symptom, but the other symptoms may not be apparent. As of right now, there is no technological test that can diagnose a concussion. Many inventions have been tested, but there is no equipment that has been able to detect concussion. This is why the sideline assessment immediately following the impact is so critical. Interestingly, a study conducted in association with the concussion symptoms scale article mentioned above made a connection between exercise and symptoms. It states, “[the research team] recently studied the effects of fifteen minute bursts of moderate to high intensity exercise on common concussion symptoms in a sample of sixty healthy participants aged 18 to 35. They found significantly increase symptoms following intense exercise, with a

These effects may fade, but will surface over time. Short-term implications are defined as lasting three weeks or less. One of the most prevalent of these effects is amnesia. Amnesia is defined as a deficit in memory. In a study conducted by M.R. Lovell and V. Fazio, titled “Concussion Management in the Child and Adolescent Athlete,” analysis of patients suffering from amnesia indicated higher symptom scores and decreased neurocognitive data. Evidence supports the conclusion that amnesia can be more severe in adolescents. The same study addresses the peculiarity of the claimed symptom of ”fogginess” related to neurocognitive functioning. “Fogged” patients tested for higher symptom scores compared to those not feeling “fogginess.” These athletes also scored significantly lower on measures of memory functioning, processing speed, and reaction time. Previous studies have said that collegiate athletes recover from concussions in 1-2 weeks, recent research says that younger athletes take considerably longer to recover. In an investigation of high school football players, 25% of athletes took four weeks to fulfill recovery requirements. Varying rates of recovery is very common in adolescents and children and research ahs indicted a number of factors that potentially affect a child’s recover rate. Clinical experience shows that middle school