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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 1999;282:1908.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Athletes who take a serious blow to the head during competition shouldn't just shake it off and get back in the game. New guidelines advise them to see a physician immediately and refrain from play the rest of the day if they become unconscious or have persistent symptoms.

Common symptoms of concussion following head trauma, which is defined as an alteration of cerebral function, include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, brief loss of consciousness, vertigo, light-headedness, amnesia, and difficulty concentrating. If symptoms last more than 15 minutes, the guidelines say athletes should be monitored for up to a week and return to competition gradually. If symptoms worsen, they should seek emergency treatment.

"Concussion has cut short too many professional athletic careers, and left too many amateurs with lasting problems," said Edward Wojtys, MD, of the University of Michigan Health System, head of the team that developed the guidelines. He . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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