Sports-Related Concussion Treatment

Florida Orthopaedic Institute offers specialized treatment for sports-related concussions—the most common of all traumatic brain injuries. Commonly resulting from sports injuries such as helmet-to-helmet collisions and cheerleading accidents, concussions can be anywhere from mild to serious, with symptoms that can range from simple post-traumatic headache to complete loss of consciousness. While many symptoms often go away on their own over time, observation is recommended to rule out more serious brain injury.

If you or a loved one has suffered a sports-related head injury resulting in post-traumatic symptoms, call Florida Orthopaedic Institute to arrange a consultation, and one of our concussion specialists will assess your situation and develop an appropriate course of treatment.

Symptoms of concussion usually fall into four categories:

Some of these symptoms may appear right away, while others may not be noticed for days or months after the injury, or until the person starts resuming their everyday life and more demands are placed upon them. If you feel like you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms please seek medical attention.

ImPACT® at Florida Orthopaedic Institute

ImPACT® (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) evaluates and documents multiple aspects of neurocognitive functioning, including memory, attention span, brain processing speed, reaction time, and post-concussive symptoms. Research-based computer tests developed to help our physicians evaluate an athlete’s recovery following concussion. User-friendly injury documentation system enables us to track the injury from the field and through the recovery process.

ImPACT® begins with a test administered in the preseason for a baseline, and includes verbal and visual memory, processing speed and reaction time. When a concussion is suspected, a follow-up test is administered to see if the results have changed from the baseline. Follow-up tests can be administered over days or weeks so we can continue to track the injury.

Why Florida Orthopaedic Institute Uses ImPACT®

ImPACT® can help answer difficult questions about an athlete’s readiness to return to play, protecting them from the serious consequences of returning too soon. While traditional neurological and radiologic procedures such as CT, MRI, and EEG are helpful in identifying many serious concerns (e.g. skull fracture, hematoma, contusion), they are not as useful in identifying the effects of concussion. As a result, doctors often must rely on subjective observations or a patient’s self-reporting of symptoms to diagnose and track a concussion.

This is where ImPACT® can help. Using ImPACT® to implement baseline and post-injury neurocognitive testing can help objectively evaluate the concussed athlete’s post-injury condition and recovery to prevent the cumulative effects of concussion. In the event that baseline testing is not possible, ImPACT® has a normative database of thousands of non-injured athletes, which can also be used for effective comparison.