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Concussion Prevention

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Concussion Management for Primary Care

Abstract

The primary prevention of sport-related concussions (“SRCs”) has received significantly less scholarly attention from researchers and clinicians than other aspects of SRCs, such as SRC monitoring and management. Current research into strategies for primary concussion prevention focus on protective gear, proper technique, neck strengthening, rule changes, legislation, and education, especially in contact sports that pose the greatest SRC risk to participants, such as football, hockey, soccer, and rugby. To the frustration and surprise of many, such research has failed to prove the efficacy of the most seemingly obvious SRC prevention strategies in these areas. This is likely because there is no panacea to prevent SRCs, and no strategy is universally applicable across age, gender, and positions within the same sport. Ultimately, concussion prevention will require an overall shift in the attitudes of coaches, players, and spectators towards putting safety above competitiveness, for example, by promoting fair play rules and enforcing penalties for unsafe plays.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rule 48 has been revised several times since the 2010–2011 and season and currently to define an illegal check to the head as “a hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable.” http://www.nhl.com/nhl/en/v3/ext/rules/2018-2019-NHL-rulebook.pdf; https://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hockey/opinion/ 2013/09/30-thoughts-nhl-clarifies-illegal-check-to-head-rule.htm

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kathleen M. Weber

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Elizabeth B. Portin

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  1. Kathleen M. Weber
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  2. Elizabeth B. Portin
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Correspondence to Kathleen M. Weber .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Family and Sports Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Deepak S. Patel

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Weber, K.M., Portin, E.B. (2020). Concussion Prevention. In: Patel, D. (eds) Concussion Management for Primary Care . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39582-7_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39582-7_12

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