How to treat concussion in children

Concussion is a relatively common brain problem. If the brain is severely injured, concussion is likely to occur. Of course, for children, after a concussion occurs, they must receive timely treatment, otherwise it will have a great impact on the child's brain and intellectual development. So, how should concussions in children be treated? The specific method will be introduced to you below!

What is a concussion?

Concussion is a transient neurological dysfunction caused by an external force to the head, typically manifested by brief loss of consciousness and retrograde amnesia. Neurological examination of concussion patients usually shows no localizing signs; routine imaging examinations such as head CT and MRI show no abnormalities.

What are the clinical features of concussion?

The most typical clinical feature of concussion is mild disturbance of consciousness, which can manifest as loss of consciousness or confusion. Impairment of consciousness usually does not exceed half an hour.

Retrograde amnesia is the most specific symptom of concussion. That is, the person cannot recall what happened before and after the injury, but his memory of the past is not impaired.

Other clinical manifestations of concussion include physical symptoms such as headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, blurred vision, photophobia, fatigue, and balance dysfunction. Cognitive dysfunction, affective disturbances, and sleep disorders may also occur.

How to diagnose a concussion

Concussion is diagnosed when there is a transient loss of consciousness after a head injury and laboratory and imaging tests are normal. The first step in evaluating a patient with suspected concussion is to obtain a detailed injury history. Including the mechanism of injury, the circumstances at the time of injury, such as whether there was loss of consciousness, how long the loss of consciousness lasted, whether there was vomiting, etc. Then the patient's symptoms need to be asked in detail. Some symptoms may indicate more serious brain damage in the skull, such as loss of consciousness for more than 30 seconds, significant amnesia, or progressively worsening headache. When these conditions exist, imaging examinations are needed. In the acute stage of head trauma, head CT scan is the first choice; if the CT scan is negative, MRI scan can be chosen.

How to effectively treat patients with concussion

The key to early treatment of a concussion is adequate rest until the symptoms subside. In the early stage, it is advisable to rest in bed for 1-3 weeks, stop working, studying and training, do not watch TV, read for a long time, play with mobile phones, or play games, ensure adequate sleep, and increase nutritional intake. For patients who have obvious headaches, nausea and vomiting after injury, symptomatic treatment can be adopted, and some neurotrophic drugs can promote the recovery of brain function. Concussion patients can only gradually resume training, work and study after their symptoms have completely disappeared.

Most concussion patients can recover well in a short period of time after early treatment, and their symptoms will completely disappear. However, a small number of patients still have persistent symptoms, which is called persistent concussion or post-concussion syndrome.

The treatment of persistent concussion is mainly symptomatic, supplemented by psychotherapy and physical therapy to eliminate the patient's anxiety and tension.