Clinical Question: How is a concussion diagnosed and graded? What are the most current clinical guidelines published by authoritative medical societies based on expert consensus? When does the physician treating a young athlete who has just sustained a concussion allow the patient to return to play in competitive sports?
Evidence: The American Academy of Neurologists, the American Osteopathic Association, and other professional medical societies and commissions have all issued official statements about the danger of returning to play too early after an acute concussion or mild traumatic brain injury based on evidence that demonstrates concussions have additive effects, and patients are more vulnerable to secondary injury.
Recommendation: This review of the methods of diagnosing and grading concussion and mild traumatic brain injury and the official return to play guidelines will allow physicians to make the safest medical decisions about when an athlete will return to play to protect the patient from further injury poised by the risk of acute and subacute repetitive head trauma.