Medical Centers Offering New Programs to Improve Concussion Care in Teens

At ice hockey camp two summers ago, goalie Beth Potter slammed her head into the ice when she dived to block a shot, resulting in a concussion with aftereffects that affect her to this day. Young athletes like Potter, now 18, are the focus of new efforts to improve the care of concussions in children and teens, who are more vulnerable than adults to long-term physical, cognitive and emotional problems as a result of the brain injury. Today, medical centers such as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center offer new programs to better educate school nurses, coaches, athletic directors, parents, and pediatricians about steps to take to avoid repeat trauma and complications.

New research also is leading to a better understanding of concussion, which occurs when a sudden movement or direct force to the head sets brain tissue in motion within the skull. Studies show, for example, that each patient may experience concussion differently; in addition, some patients are more genetically predisposed to sustaining a concussion. Tests are helping identify those patients who may have protracted recovery periods. For more information, click here to read the full article.