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Newswise — ROCHESTER, Minn. – Mayo Clinic has released recommendations from the Ice Hockey Summit on Concussion: A Call to Action. The summit attracted top scientists, trainers, coaches, officials and equipment manufacturers from across the United States, Canada and Europe to discuss concussion-related issues, including the science of concussions, impact on children, and prevention.
“Hockey is unique from other contact sports. It is a skilled, fast and exciting game, but the frequent collisions, rigid boards, sticks and puck contribute to risk of injury,” says Michael Stuart, M.D., of Mayo Clinic’s Sports Medicine Center and chief medical officer of USA Hockey. “Younger players need to first develop their skills, and those who administer the game must strive to minimize injury risk— especially to the brain.”
The summit identified six components of a solution to concussions in hockey: developing standardized databases and metrics; enhancing recognition, diagnosis, management and return-to-play guidelines; analysis of the influence of equipment and facilities; education and prevention; rule changes, policies and enforcement; and communications. Participants in the 2010 symposium prioritized action items to reduce concussion and ensure appropriate return to play, including:
• Mandate education for coaches, parents, players and officials;• Eliminate head contact;• Teach body contact and checking at younger age levels, but postpone body checking in games until age 13;• Collect concussion data using a consistent, hockey-specific definition in well-designed studies.
The proceedings appeared this month in several academic journals, including the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, Current Sports Medicine Reports, American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, The Clinical Neuropsychologist, Sports Medicine Bulletin, PM&R, and PhyzForum. The information is relevant to several medical disciplines, and such wide dissemination is important on an issue of major public health importance, such as concussions in sports, according to Aynsley Smith, Ph.D., of Mayo Clinic’s Sports Medicine Center, and David Dodick, M.D., of Mayo Clinic’s Department of Neurology in Scottsdale, Ariz., and president of the American Headache Society.
Mayo Clinic in Arizona this summer began making baseline concussion testing available at no cost to more than 100,000 high school student athletes in Arizona, leading up to the 2011-12 sports season.
Proceedings authors included Drs. Smith, Stuart, and Dodick, and Jonathan Finnoff, D.O., all of Mayo Clinic; Richard Greenwald, Ph.D., of SIMBEX; Brian Benson, M.D., Ph.D., Carolyn Emery, Ph.D., and Willem Meeuwisse, M.D., Ph.D., all of the University of Calgary; Jason Mihalik, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; William Roberts, M.D., of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul; and Carol-Anne Sullivan, Ph.D., of the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation.###About Mayo ClinicMayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit http://www.mayoclinic.org/about/ and www.mayoclinic.org/news.
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