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New consensus statement on concussion in sport

Intoduction

How to handle concussion in sport? Simple sideline assessment tools are now available. These tools will help you to diagnose concussion symptoms and make return-to-sport decisions easier and safer for the athlete.

The 3rd international conference on concussion in sports was held in Zurich this winter and resulted in a practical Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2), its short version (Pocket SCAT2), and a simple balance assessment tool.

 

The aims of the conference were to provide recommendations for the improvement of safety and health of athletes who suffer concussive injuries in sports as ice hockey, rugby, and football (soccer).

 

A group of experts within the fields of neuroscience, clinical medicine, sports medicine, neuroimaging, athletic training and sport sciences were invited to address specific issues of epidemiology, basic and clinical science, injury grading systems, cognitive assessment, new research methods, protective equipment, management, prevention and long-term outcome (powerpoint presentation from this meeting, pdf).

 

What’s new?

This meeting provided new practical guidelines, simple sideline assessment tools, on how to handle concussions in sports to the benefits and safety of the athletes.  “The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool revision (SCAT2)”, including a new balance assessment test (“tandem stance”), are tools developed to support the medical staff or others in the difficult return to sport decisions.

 

The SCAT2 and the balance tests represent standardized methods to evaluate concussed athletes, and are developed for physicians, physiotherapists, certified athletic trainers, health professionals, coaches and other people involved in the care of injured participants and athletes above the age of 10 years at all levels. Listen to the experts via podcast.

 

There are just come out two new papers on concussion among Norwegian elite football players: "In two out of three cases of concussion in the Norwegian elite league, the concussion is never recognised and in 70% of the head impact situations the player returns to play immediately".

 

 

DOWNLOADS

 

SCAT2 (pdf)

 

The Pocket SCAT2 is a short and catchy version of the SCAT2 (pdf).

 

Have a look on the BMJS Supplement on Concussion in Sport and the 3rd Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport (pdf)