Cerebral concussion in sports: Why prevention is imperative

Abstract

Cerebral concussion has come to the front of sports medicine research for the past decade, and the significance of concussion prevention is now emphasized. Why should concussion, which represents relatively mild head injury, be prevented? Sport-related concussion is characterized by its recurrent nature, leading to posttraumatic encephalopathy and/or concussion syndrome. Premature return to competition may induce second impact syndrome and/or acute subdural hematoma. It has been reported that a sports environment with high incidence of cerebral concussion has high a mortality rate with acute subdural hematoma, thus a campaign against cerebral concussion leads to a reduction in mortality in contact sports such as American football, rugby football, and Judo. The authors review the current concept for the managements of cerebral concussion in sports.