Sport and Injuries Preventions

**3**

**Chapter 1**

Management

*Danielle Leong*

**Abstract**

**1. Introduction**

unreported [8].

Sports-Related Traumatic

Brain Injury: Screening and

management and approaches for active rehabilitation will be covered.

**Keywords:** balance, clinical management, concussion detection, eye movements, head trauma, K-D test, King-Devick test, pathophysiology, saccades, screening, recovery, recovery acceleration program, rehabilitation, mTBI, traumatic brain injury

An estimated 41 million American children participate in competitive sports each year [1]. Participation in competitive sports is not without risk, however, as the Center for Disease Control reports that 2.7 million children aged 19 and under visited the emergency room annually for sports related injuries from 2001 to 2009 [2]. Specifically sports concussion is becoming an increasing public health issue as prevalence is estimated at 1.6–3.8 million annually [3]. Youth sports also contribute significantly to high rates of mild traumatic brain injury with 29% of sports related concussions happening in athletes between 16 and 19 years of age, and 40% of sports sports-related concussions occurring between 2001 and 2005 being sustained by children ages 8–13 [4, 5]. Although, cycling is the leading cause of head injury in children under the age of 14 [6], the three highest concussion rates in high school sports can be attributed to football, boys' ice hockey, and girls' soccer, with estimated rates of 76.8, 54, and 33 concussions per 100,000 athletic exposures, respectively [7]. These reports are likely underestimated as not all injured individuals seek medical care and therefore an estimated 50% of concussive injuries go

There is lack of a concrete and consistent definition of concussion which also creates challenges in the accuracy of sports related concussion epidemiology estimations. However, we share here the most widely accepted definition

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained during sports participation, also known as sport-related concussion, has received increasing attention due in large part to the growing public awareness of the risks of head injury exposure in sports and the long-term consequences of repetitive head trauma. This chapter will review the latest understanding of concussion pathophysiology and provide an up to date overview of the scientific evidence-based acute screening and detection methods available for laypersons and medical professionals providing frontline assessment for athletes. Lastly, a comprehensive summary of clinical management for recovery
