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June 14, 2009
Guidelines recommend barring athletes who may have sustained concussions from same-day return to playing field
The New York Times (6/8, D5, Schwarz) reports, "New guidelines for the care of youth athletes who sustain concussions are causing controversy among brain-injury experts."
According to "recommendations on concussion care in the May issue of The British Journal of Sports Medicine...any athlete 18 or younger who was believed to have sustained a concussion during a game or practice should never be allowed to return to the playing field the same day."
The authors, "an international panel of neurologists," concluded that having an athlete "cleared by a doctor or certified athletic trainer" is "too difficult and dangerous for same-day return to be considered safe."
Dr. Robert Cantu, an author of the guidelines, explained that "sometimes, postconcussion symptoms can be delayed for hours or even days. ... It's a clinical decision that's difficult or sometimes...near impossible to be made on the sideline." But, some physicians who "work the sidelines of high school athletic events" fear that athletes will "respond by hiding their injuries from coaches."
Posted by admin at June 14, 2009 12:36 PM