Traumatic Brain Injuries Send Nearly 20 Children Every Hour to Emergency Room

Winston-Salem, NC (PRWEB) October 11, 2013

Each year, U.S. emergency departments treat an estimated 173,285 sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, among children and adolescents from birth to 19 years old, which equals almost 20 injured children every hour.* A concussion is a brain injury and all are serious, with most concussions occurring without loss of consciousness. Recognition and proper treatment can help prevent further injury or even death.

Researchers recently found that contact in practice, not games, was the most significant variable when the number and force of head impacts in youth football players were measured over the course of a season. They concluded that less contact during practice could mean a lot less exposure to head injuries for young football players. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 62% of sports-related injuries occur during practice rather than in games. Learn more about the signs of concussions by viewing http://www.wakehealth.edu/CIPT/Awareness/Concussion-Facts.htm.

In addition to funding research that studies the number of head impacts children experience while playing sports, our larger goal is to improve detection of and treatment for these head injuries, said Dr. J. Wayne Meredith, executive director of the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, and chair of general surgery and director of the division of surgical sciences at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

In reaction to these statistics, the Childress Institute (@injuredkids) will host a Twitter chat at #KidsConcussions to discuss sports-related head injuries in children on Tuesday, Oct. 15, from 1-2 p.m. EST. The chat will feature researchers and leading experts in the field and will cover:

Experts participating in the chat include:

To learn more about the signs of concussions in kids, and other serious injuries to children, visit http://www.InjuredKids.org, or find the Childress Institute via social media on Twitter @injuredkids, http://www.facebook.com/ChildressPediatricTrauma and http://www.YouTube.com/ChildressInstitute.

About the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma The Childress Institutes goal is to lead national efforts to reduce death and disability following injury to children less than 18 years of age. It is dedicated to improving outcomes for critically-injured children across the U.S. by investing resources in research, education and awareness. The Institute helps injured kids get the best care, when they need it the most. Life-threatening injury is the No. 1 killer of kids in America. Nearly 10,000 children die each year - more than all other causes combined. The Childress Institute invests resources in research, education and awareness to improve the treatment for critically injured children in the U.S. The Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma was founded at and receives considerable support from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The Institute was established through the generosity of Richard and Judy Childress. For more information, please visit http://www.InjuredKids.org.

*The numbers provided are according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more info, please visit cdc.gov/concussion/sports.

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Traumatic Brain Injuries Send Nearly 20 Children Every Hour to Emergency Room