Pediatric and Adolescent Concussion

Jennifer Apps, Ph.D., is assistant professor, pediatric neuropsychologist, and assistant director for research in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Apps specializes in the evaluation and treatment of children with comorbid emotional and neurological disorders. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and completed post-doctoral training at Children's Hospital of Dallas. Her primary research interests are in the areas of pediatric sports-related concussions and mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder. She has published articles in professional journals, book chapters, frequently gives both professional and educational lectures on pediatric mental health issues, and most recently co-edited her first book for professionals and parents Pediatric Neuropsychology Case Studies: From the Exceptional to the Commonplace (Springer, in press, 2009)

Between the growing numbers of children and adolescents playing sports and the increased attention paid to head injuries by the larger sports community and the general public, pediatric concussions are emerging as a major concern. And as practitioners are seeing more young clients with head injuries, questions arise about age-appropriate assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and return to activity. Pediatric and Adolescent Concussion: Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes offers evidence-based guidelines where few previously existed. This comprehensive volume clearly explains the effects of traumatic injury on the developing brain in sports- and non-sports-related contexts, and establishes a framework for immediate and long-term management, especially the crucial first 24 hours. Chapters provide a basic grounding in its subject with a history of concussion as a medical entity and a review of definitional and classification issues, take the reader through the steps of a neuropsychological evaluation, pintpoint post-injury issues, and offer strategies for the prevention of further or future injury. Up-to-date information across professional fields ensures this volume of well-rounded coverage of complex factors from injury to recovery. Pediatric and Adolescent Concussion: Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes serves as both an educational resource and practical framework for a wide array of professionsals, including neuropsychologists, sports medicine physicians, child psychologists and psychiatrists, pediatric and family physicians, athletic trainers, social workers, and educators.

The first centralized, comprehensive resource about concussions in the pediatric population.

Section 1: Definitions and Causes of Concussion.- Chapter 1. Historical Perspectives on Concussion.- Chapter 2. Definition and Classification of Concussion.- Chapter 3. Sports-Related Concussion.- Chapter 4. Biomechanics and Pathophysiology of Concussion.- Section II: Assessment and Treatment of Concussion.- Chapter 5. Immediate "On the Field" Assessment of Concussion.- Chapter 6. Acute Treatment of Concussion.- Chapter 7.Utilization of Imaging Technology in Concussion Assessment.- Chapter 8. Long-Term Assessment of Concussion.- Chapter 9. Long-Term Treatment of Concussion.- Chapter 10. Methods of Formal Neurocognitive Assessment of Concussion.- Section III: Additional Issues in Pediatric Concussion.- Chapter 11. Pre-Morbid Functional Considerations in Pediatric Concussion.- Chapter 12. Developmental Considerations in Pediatric Concussion Evaluation and Management.- Chapter 13.The Future of Preventing Concussion in Children and Adolescents.- Chapter 14. Post-Injury Issues and Ethics of Return-to-Play in Pediatric Concussion.