Sports Medicine
Medicine > Treatment > Concussion
Head Injury and Concussion in Sports
A concussion is a traumatic head injury that occurs from a blow to the head such that the brain moves violently within the skull. Concussion is obviously more common in extreme sports and contact sports such as football, but can occur during any activity.
Testing for Concussion
It is important to have a test for concussion, as some head injuries may appear to be mild but are known to have serious, long-term effects, especially with repeated head injuries or cumulative concussions.
SCAT2
At the 3rd International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2008, there was produced a Consensus Statement and a Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2) to be used in the assessment of concussion. The SCAT2 is composed of a series of questions and assessments.
ImPACT test
The ImPACT (Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) test is a computerized concussion evaluation tool for sports medicine personnel. The test requires all the sports participants undertaking the test at the beginning of the season before any injuries happen, to establish a baseline performance on the test. When a concussion occurs, the test is given again which can be compared to the baseline test to see how severely a concussion is affecting an the's brain functions.
Using Reaction Time
Brain function is usually affected following a concussion incident. A simple reaction time test, similar to the reaction stick ruler test, has been trailed as a test simple test of concussion. The test involves testing how quickly a person can react and grab a falling ruler, by measuring how far the object can falls before being caught. Such a simple test has the potential to be used on a wide scale in the assessment of concussion, and can possibly be used serially so that it can be assessed when to return the person to playing sport.
