New guidelines published today in the journal Neurosurgery and co-authored by Jay Clugston, M.D., UF Athletic Association team physician, recommend assessing concussions as early as three days of injury for five subtypes: cognitive, ocular-motor, headache/migraine, vestibular and anxiety/mood.
Literature over the last 30 years was searched to characterize common clinical presentations within three days of injury. The five subtypes are frequently seen with varying prevalence, along with the common concussion-associated condition of sleep disruption.
The new guidelines recommend incorporating evaluations for all five subtypes during a comprehensive acute concussion assessment.
“Although concussion is considered to be a multi-dimensional injury, these recommendations provide evidence that many of the injuries have recognizable patterns and that looking for these patterns may help clinicians target treatment recommendations for each patient,” said Clugston, associate professor of community health and family medicine, associate professor of neurology and director of the UF Student Health Care Center’s Sports Concussion Center.