Concussive head injury in children and adolescents related to sports and other leisure physical activities.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the characteristics of children and adolescents with concussive head injury (CHI) sustained during organised sports or other leisure physical activity.


METHODS
This was a case series study reviewing the medical records retrospectively over a four year period of children 6-16 years presenting to the emergency department with a CHI after participating in sport and/or recreation activity.


RESULTS
There were 592 cases of sport and recreation related concussion over the study period (2000-2003). Most of the patients (n = 424, 71.6%) were male, with half (n = 304, 51.4%) being older than 10 years of age. A total of 152 (25.7%) cases of CHI were related to playing sports. Most cases (71.2%) were mild concussion. The cause of injury was a fall (n = 322, 54.4%) or a collision. Nearly a quarter of the children (n = 143, 24.2%) were admitted to hospital, with imaging performed in 134 (22.7%). Most children were treated appropriately and no adverse events were reported.


CONCLUSIONS
A severe CHI in a child is six times more likely to have resulted from organised sport than from other leisure physical activities. Outcomes for CHI in children is excellent, although their management places a considerable burden on emergency services. The need for activity restriction and the benefits of this in reducing long term cognitive effects of CHI are uncertain.
Browne
G J
GJ
The Children's Hospital at Westmead, CHISM, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia. garyb@chw.edu.au
Lam
L T
LT
D000293:Adolescent; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D001924:Brain Concussion / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies