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Sports Concussion
The statistics are alarming: 50 percent of college athletes have had a history of concussion. 1 in 10 high school athletes involved in contact sports sustains a concussion each year.
Many coaches and team personnel may have limited training in recognizing signs and symptoms of concussion and therefore may not accurately diagnose the injury when it has occurred. Additionally, many players may be reluctant to report concussive symptoms to the athletic trainer or team physician due to the fear that they will be removed from the game, thus jeopardizing their status on the team or their careers.The classic symptoms of loss of consciousness, confusion, memory loss, and/or balance problems may be present in some athletes with mild concussion, but there may or may not be obvious signs that a concussion has occurred. Symptoms indicative of brain impairment can be quite subtle and may go unnoticed by the athlete, team medical staff, or coaches.
For these reasons, athletes should undergo baseline neurocognitive testing and athletes, parents and team personnel should be educated about concussion and its appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
Return to Play?
The safe determination of return to participation once concussion has been diagnosed is often debated. Though long-term deficits in the form of post-concussion syndrome have been observed from a single concussive event, it is typically assumed that proper management of concussion should lead to good prognosis and no longterm harmful effects. Conversely, returning an athlete to participation prior to complete recovery may greatly increase the risk of lingering, long-term, or catastrophic neurologic sequelae. As such, acute assessment of injury and determination of existing symptoms that may indicate incomplete recovery proves critical to the safe management of the concussed athlete. In short, no athlete should return to participation until all signs and symptoms of concussive injury have completely resolved
ImPACT Software
Dr. Conroy utilizes ImPACT software as part of the management program. ImPACT is a sophisticated research-based software tool developed to help sports-medicine clinicians evaluate recovery following concussion. The ImPACT program evaluates and documents multiple aspects of neurocognitive functioning including memory, brain processing speed, reaction time & post-concussive symptoms. In addition, the program provides an injury documentation system that facilitates the tracking of the injury from the field through the recovery process. Combining ImPACT with comprehensive office-based neurocognitive assessment of the concussed athlete gives valuable information to assist in making return to play decisions and ensuring the health of our athletes. Dr. Conroy is a certified ImPACT consultant. For detailed information on ImPACT software, go to the website at www.impacttest.com.
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