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The New Science of Concussion and Mild Brain Injury in Children

  • Pediatric Trauma Surgery (A.C. Fischer, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Concussions occur frequently in children and adolescents. Physicians are often faced with this common clinical problem and several decisions, such as when a patient needs to go to the emergency department or obtain additional imaging, must be made. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment is required to prevent post-concussive physical, cognitive, and emotional symptoms. Over the last decade there has been increasing attention and understanding of concussions. The purpose of this article is to provide a general review on literature regarding concussions in children and adolescents with a focus on (1) initial evaluation of concussion in children and adolescents; (2) decision-making guidelines for identifying children who are at very low risk of having a clinically significant injury and in whom neuroimaging can be avoided; (3) the use of assessment tools for baseline testing, diagnosis, and monitoring; (4) review of return-to-school and return-to-play guidelines; and (5) post-concussive symptoms and their management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Pediatric and Thoracic Surgery, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, USA

    Juan L. Calisto & Barbara Gaines

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  1. Juan L. Calisto
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  2. Barbara Gaines
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Correspondence to Juan L. Calisto.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Pediatric Trauma Surgery.

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Calisto, J.L., Gaines, B. The New Science of Concussion and Mild Brain Injury in Children. Curr Surg Rep 3, 33 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40137-015-0111-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40137-015-0111-4

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