Early Controlled Exercise and Timing of Treatment Following Concussion: A Critically Appraised Topic.

Early Controlled Exercise and Timing of Treatment Following Concussion: A Critically Appraised Topic. J Sport Rehabil. 2019 Oct 18;:1-7 Authors: Hattrup N, Gray H, Krumholtz M, Valovich McLeod TC Abstract Clinical Scenario: Recent systematic reviews have shown that extended rest may not be beneficial to patients following concussion. Furthermore, recent evidence has shown that patient with postconcussion syndrome benefit from an active rehabilitation program. There is currently a gap between the ability to draw conclusions to the use of aerobic exercise during the early stages of recovery along with the safety of these programs. Clinical Question: Following a concussion, does early controlled aerobic exercise, compared with either usual care or delayed exercise, improve recovery as defined by symptom duration and severity? Summary of Key Findings: After a thorough literature search, 5 studies relevant to the clinical question were selected. Of the 5 studies, 1 study was a randomized control trial, 2 studies were pilot randomized controlled trials, and 2 studies were retrospective. All 5 studies showed that implementing controlled aerobic exercise did not have an adverse effect on recovery. One study showed early aerobic exercise had a quicker return to school, and another showed a 2-day decrease in symptom duration. Clinical Bottom Line: There is sufficient evidence to suggest that early controlled aerobic exercise is safe following ...
Source: Journal of Sport Rehabilitation - Category: Sports Medicine Tags: J Sport Rehabil Source Type: research