Sports-related concussions

Concussion is the most common head injury occur-ring in sports participatio n Concussions range from a brief period of neural dysfunction to a prolonge d period of unconsciousness with retrograde amnesia, It is imperative that the pediatric emergency medicine specialist be familiar with the proper ini tial assessment of the child or adolescent athlete who has sustained a spor ts-related concussion, the latest grading scales of concussions, and the cu rrent recommendations for returning the athlete to competition. A systemati c approach to the athlete who has suffered a concussion will minimize the r isk of further injury or mortality.