Baseline Concussion Testing

Ben Benesh, PT, SCS

What is a concussion?  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definition:

“A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells.”

According to a Pediatrics study from 2016, it was estimated that between 1.6 and 3.8 million sports concussions occur annually in the United States. Concussions can happen in sport during a violent head to head collision in football or taking a charge and hitting the back of your head in basketball. They can be sustained during a whiplash-type injury in a flyer during a competitive cheer stunt or when a young athlete takes a volleyball spike to the head or face. Besides the obvious appropriate post-concussion management for these athletes, a proper baseline concussion test is key in the successful return to school and sport.

High school-age athletes are baseline concussion tested as a Freshman and again as a Junior. They are usually tested in school by their athletic training team. The group that needs the most attention are the elementary and middle school-aged children, that do not have access to athletic training staff, and do not have school-based concussion baseline testing. These kids are still playing sports, including collision type sports that put them at risk for a concussion. Over the last 7 years of treating patients following a concussion, I have seen plenty of soccer and football athletes, but have also treated basketball players, volleyball players, wrestlers, competitive cheer athletes, and even swimmers! In order to treat these patients as effectively as possible following a concussion, baseline testing is crucial.

In healthy athletes, baseline concussion testing includes concussion education, past head injury medical history, baseline ImPACT neurocognitive computer testing, baseline vestibular/oculomotor screening and assessment, and baseline balance assessment. These objective measurements will be saved and used following a concussion to determine if your athlete is back to “normal” following injury and can safely return to their sport they love to do.

In this crazy time dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, sporting events are delayed or canceled and then rescheduled without notice. The training schedule may not be as consistent or as intense as previous years as kids are quarantined or had exposure to COVID-19 or coaches are unable to secure facilities to practice. Parents are often not even able to watch their children play sports because of spectator restrictions in gyms. All of these reasons make this year unique. But the truth is, concussions still happen during a pandemic and we need to be best prepared to give our young athletes the best care possible if they sustain a concussion.

Please contact us for more information or to schedule your Baseline Concussion Test at our Appleton North or Community First Champion Center or online (ages 12+) clinics!

References

https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/basics/return_to_sports.html

McCrory et al. Consensus statement on concussion in sport—the 5th international conference on concussion in sport held in Berlin, October 2016. BJSM April, 2017

Elbin et al. Removal From Play After Concussion and Recovery Time. Pediatrics August, 2016