Pediatric Concussions

By November 26, 2018 Uncategorised

By: Dr Scott Burkhart

Concussions in toddlers can be tricky. Here are a few tips that may help from our clinic at Children’s Health Andrews Institute in Plano, TX. 1. Bumps are good – that means the swelling is between the skin and the skull and not the skull and the brain. 2. Bumps on the head will be tender and make take several days to a couple weeks to go away completely based on where the bump is. 3. Concussions in toddlers are really bad and require emergency care if there are signs of repetitive vomiting, disorientation, waxing and waning consciousness, and overall deterioration. If you see these head to the ED. 4. Toddlers may revert back and act younger or even clingy after a concussion… all of this is normal. 5. It’s important to regulate activity and realize toddlers don’t have an internal process of regulating activity or recognizing when symptoms are increasing. 6. Concussions are very treatable and many toddlers recover quickly with minimal difficultly.

Our 8-12 year olds who sustain a concussion often experience a developmental anosognosia or inability to recognize the extent of their deficits. Like most things in neuropsychology, we learn about the brain by comparison of those without a dysfunction to healthy brains. In this case, 8-12 year olds will require parents and teachers to act as their frontal-temporal-parietal region which is still developing. Keep in mind the 8-12 year old concussion will require constant breaks to avoid a big symptom crash. The goal should be having patients in this age range feel like they still have energy at bed time.

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