AUSTIN, Texas — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines regarding treatment of pediatric concussions.
Dr. Martha Pyron, a Sports Medicine Physician and owner of Medicine in Motion, said there’s a good chance doctors are already following most of the guidelines. She said a significant guideline that stuck out to her was the CDC’s encouragement to reduce the use of CT scans.
“Especially in children because I’ve ordered two in my entire practice related to a concussion, and it’s not because I thought they had a concussion. It’s because I thought they had a bleed or a stroke type problem,” said Pyron. “And it’s radiation to the brain, which has been linked to dementia problems later, so you don’t want to get a whole bunch of CT’s in your lifetime.”
The new regulations offer doctors a multitude of tests and ways to evaluate patients, including questions to ask and checking their balance.
Pyron said a CT scan is rarely necessary.
“They’re kids. They have little brains, you don’t need to expose that,” Pyron said.
Pyron said the CDC also recommends that parents should take their kids in to get a baseline test.
“Now we have this data. It’s like a fingerprint of how your brain works,” said Pyron, explaining the test checks short-term memory, concentration, and reaction time.
Pyron said she often will use the test results that were taken when a child was healthy to compare their results post-concussion.
“In my world, the test is most important to have a baseline to compare to and then to be able to utilize that to decide when things really have resolved, and they’re ready to be back into sports again,” said Pyron.
Pyron also noted the importance of rest when it comes to recovery, and players taking their time getting back into the game.