Treating sports concussions with telemedicine

Apr 26, 2017 | Melissa Bear | @mbear

An estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries occur every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 75 percent of the injuries are sports-related mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions.

While this issue is being recognized at the professional and elite levels, many youth and collegiate athletic programs across the U.S. lack adequate medical personnel, specifically concussion specialists, to handle these injuries on the sidelines in real time.

Doctors at Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with the Northern Arizona University football team, conducted a study, “Feasibility and Accuracy of Teleconcussion for Acute Evaluation of Suspected Concussion,” which recently was published in Neurology. The study, funded by Mayo Clinic, focuses on concussion specialists using telemedicine to determine if a player must be removed from play in real time.

Learn more about the study.

Practice Highlight

Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine: For all facets of the body

A sports injury can happen in an instant or from repetitive action over time. An old injury can flare up and can’t be ignored. When you worry that your athletic career, your Olympic dream, or the simple joy you get from everyday activities could be over, you want the best and most advanced care available.

You want to know that you’re being cared for by a Sports and Medicine Center comprehensive team: a complete team of surgeons, specialists and therapists who are at the top of their game, and work together to return you to the top of yours. Mayo Clinic is consistently rated a top hospital for Orthopedics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report.

That’s why thousands of athletes from all over the world choose Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine – an integrated practice with a full range of clinical and performance options to serve all ages and athletic abilities from elite and professional athletes to weekend warriors and youth athletes.