Detailed Search Results
| Author/Association: | Moore S, Musgrave C, Sandler J, Bradley B, Jones JRA |
| Title: | Early intervention treatment in the first 2 weeks following concussion in adults: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials [with consumer summary] |
| Source: | Physical Therapy in Sport 2024 Jan;65:59-73 |
| Method: | systematic review |
| Method Score: | This is a systematic review. Systematic reviews are not rated. |
| Consumer Summary: | HIGHLIGHTS: Concussion is a functional brain injury occurring in the community and sport. A repertoire of treatments are implemented in early concussion recovery. Concussion treatment efficacy is measured on symptomatic and functional recovery spectrums. Early interventions for concussion include manual therapy and telephone counselling. Various concussion treatments are clinically indicated, only some are researched. |
| Abstract: | OBJECTIVE: International guidelines support a repertoire of therapeutic interventions that may assist recovery following concussion. We aimed to systematically review the efficacy of early pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions initiated within two weeks of injury on symptoms and functional recovery of adults with concussion. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review (SR) of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) without meta-analysis utilising the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A comprehensive search was performed of four databases. Study inclusion criteria were adult participants diagnosed with concussion and commencing active intervention within 14 days of injury. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Of 7,531 studies identified, 11 were included in the final review. Six studies were rated as high-risk of bias, three with some concerns and two as low-risk of bias. We found no evidence to support specific pharmacotherapeutic management to hasten the natural recovery time-course. Two studies reported significant improvement in selected concussion symptoms following manual therapy (at 48 to 72 hours post-treatment) or telephone counselling interventions (at 6 months post-injury). No high quality RCTs demonstrate superior effects of early therapeutic interventions on concussion recovery in the first 2 weeks. We advocate future research to examine impacts of health-clinician contact points aligned with symptom-specific interventions. Full text (sometimes free) may be available at these link(s):  help |
