The purpose of the study was to determine if administration of an exercise stress test within the first ten days after a sports related concussion would delay or otherwise interfere with recovery.
The purpose of the study was to determine if administration of an exercise stress test within the first ten days after a sports related concussion would delay or otherwise interfere with recovery. All participants were adolescents injured while playing sports. All concussions were confirmed by an experienced sports medicine physician before random assignment of the participant to receive the treadmill test to determine exercise intolerance or not. Recovery was defined as (a) return to asymptomatic state; (b) ability to exercise to exhaustion without exacerbation of symptoms and (c) confirmation of recovery by a physician who is blinded to the assignment and to results of exercise testing. Symptoms were self reported on a daily basis using an online data record. Regardless of recovery rate all participants were assessed at two weeks following their first clinic visit. At the second visit all subjects, regardless of group assignment were assessed on ImPACT, and the treadmill based exercise stress test. Individuals who were not recovered by the second visit were followed until recovered no matter how long that took. Analysis of data examined recovery rates of the two groups of adolescents to determine whether use of a exercise stress test early after concussion caused any adverse events or interfered in any way with recovery.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
54
Participants are assessed for exercise tolerance using a treadmill with gradually increasing angle to increase workload. Stress test is stopped when there is symptom exacerbation or when participant experiences voluntary exhaustion.
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, New York, United States
Time to Full Recovery
Asymptomatic; Able to exercise to exhaustion without exacerbation of symptoms, confirmed by examination of a physician blinded to results
Time frame: 2-168 days
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.