Sports Related Concussions - Part 1

By Jean M. Walsh, RN
Trauma Coordinator

A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), is caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or body that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull. Quite simply, a concussion alters how the brain normally functions. Concussions can have serious long term health effects and even a subtle “ding” or “bump” can be serious.
According to the Center for Disease Control, it is estimated that nearly 1.6 to 3.8 million sports and recreation concussions occur in the United States each year. Youth 5-18 years of age account for over 2 million sports related emergency room visits per year. Of these visits, nearly 6% or 135,000 involve concussions. Football accounts for nearly 60% of these concussions while bicycling, basketball, soccer and other playground activities round out the top five causes.
The signs and symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and may not appear immediately. Symptoms can last for days, weeks or longer. The two most common concussion symptoms are confusion and amnesia. The amnesia, which may or may not be preceded by a loss of consciousness, almost always involves the loss of memory of the impact that caused the concussion.
Common symptoms of a concussion may be one or several of the following; headache, blurred vision, dizziness, loss of balance, confusion, amnesia (short term), perseverating (repeating the same thing over and over), ringing in the ears, difficulty concentrating, nausea, vomiting. Symptoms which may occur later are sensitivity to light or sounds, mood changes and sleep disturbances
Concussions are broken down into III grades of severity, with Grade III being the most severe: A Grade I concussion can have some of the symptoms listed above, but with no loss of consciousness and with symptoms ending within 15 minutes. A Grade II concussion, there has been no loss of consciousness but the symptoms last longer than 15 minutes. A Grade III concussion, the person loses consciousness — even if it's just for a few seconds. Knowing the different grades is important because how soon a player can safely return to a sports activity is directly related to the grade of the concussion. With a Grade I concussion, the player can resume play once symptoms have stopped. However, that player should stop play if he or she gets another head injury. A Grade II concussion requires that a player stop playing and not return to any type of sport or physical activity that could cause a head injury for at least another week. This player should be seen by his pediatrician. Someone with a Grade III concussion should see a doctor immediately and not return until medically cleared to do so.
If you are a parent or a coach and you believe one of your children or players has suffered a concussion, what should you do?
More on that next time.