Graded Symptom Checklist

Hello, Yes-brainers,

The symptom checklist for head injuries presented here may fit like old hat on the brains of Cindy and Kerry, our neuro-practitioners at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, but I thought I'd post the list anyway, introduced by Jane Brody's commentary on it. It's good to know that such a list exists and that it caught the spotlight of the New York Times. To jump to the online article, click here. —John

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Symptom List Helps Gauge Head Injures

By JANE E. BRODY

Published: August 24, 2009

Dr. Robert C. Cantu, a neurosurgeon who is an expert on sports-related concussions, says every parent with a child who plays a contact or collision sport should have what is called the Graded Symptom Checklist.

Issued by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the checklist should be used at the time of a head injury and at least four times afterward: at 2 to 3 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours after the injury, or until all symptoms have cleared.

The checklist can help determine whether a concussion has occurred, its severity and whether a player is fit to return to the game.

But the checklist is also important to use later, on the recommended schedule, because symptoms of a concussion are sometimes delayed. A player who sustained a direct or indirect blow to the brain may feel all right initially, then develop symptoms hours or days later.

Athletic trainers, doctors or other medical personnel who suspect that an athlete has suffered a concussion can use the checklist to evaluate a player both at rest and during physical exertion. Coaches and parents can be trained to use it as well.

Professional evaluators, parents and players must understand that a return of symptoms when a brain-injured athlete is physically or cognitively stressed is a clear sign that the brain has not healed.

“Any one of these symptoms occurring in the aftermath of a head trauma would disqualify an athlete from participating in the sport,” emphasized Dr. Cantu, co-director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine. “No athlete should be engaged in physical exertion if any symptom is present.” — JANE E. BRODY

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Attention Yes-brainers:

Because of our blog's format constraints, we are unable to see the far right edge of the checklist graphic. What gets cut off is the number 72 and the column of spaces below it. To get a copy of the original as it appears in the Times, go to this page, and click on the hot text for graphic on the left.

Copyright New York Times 2009

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