Concussion in the Emergency Department: A Review of Current Guidelines - Trauma EXTRA Supplement

Show Notes

Dr. Susan Kirelik, a concussion specialist and emergency medicine physician, discusses the key points of concussion diagnosis and management from the perspective of the emergency medicine clinician. The topics covered include:

• The signs and symptoms of concussion and how it is diagnosed in the ED
• The initial evaluation of a patient presenting with a head injury, including tools for determining when neuroimaging is indicated
• Screening tools for the evaluation of patients with suspected concussion, such as the VOMS examination and the SCAT5 and Child SCAT5 tools
• Management of patients in the ED after making a concussion diagnosis and the role of rest, antiemetics, and acute pain management for these patients
• The importance of aftercare instructions when discharging concussed patients, in the context of new guidelines for concussion recovery
• The risk factors for prolonged recovery from concussion and resources for concussion recovery
• Patients seeking concussion clearance in the ED
• Addressing patient or parent questions about the long-term complications of concussion, such as second impact syndrome, the potential for cumulative effects of multiple concussions, and risk for CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy)

Susan B. Kirelik is the Medical Director of the Rocky Mountain Pediatric OrthoONE Center for Concussion and is an attending pediatric emergency medicine physician at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, Colorado.