Podcast 814: Post-concussion Treatment

Emergency Medical Minute

Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

• Recent study looked at the impact of screen time on duration of post-concussive symptoms
• 125 patients aged 12-25 diagnosed with a concussion were randomized to either abstain from or have unrestricted screen time for 48 hours after injury
• Patients with unrestricted screen time averaged approximately 5 hours/day of screen time
• Patients in the no screen time group averaged approximately 1 hour/day of screen time
• Statistically significant difference in duration of post-concussive symptoms
• • Unrestricted screen time cohort averaged 8 days of post-concussive symptoms
  • No screen time cohort averaged 3.5 days of post-concussive symptoms
• ED physicians should encourage patients to limit screen time as much as possible in the first 48 hours after a concussion to promote faster recovery from post-concussive symptoms

References

Macnow T, Curran T, Tolliday C, et al. Effect of Screen Time on Recovery From Concussion: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2021;175(11):1124-1131.

Summarized by Mark O’Brien, MS4 | Edited by John Spartz, MD & Erik Verzemnieks, MD

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