Pediatric Sport-Related Concussion: Recommendations From the Amsterdam Consensus Statement 2023.

The 6th International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport, Amsterdam 2022, addressed sport-related concussion (SRC) in adults, adolescents, and children. We highlight the updated evidence-base and recommendations regarding SRC in children (5-12 years) and adolescents (13-18 years). Prevention strategies demonstrate lower SRC rates with mouthguard use, policy disallowing bodychecking in ice hockey, and neuromuscular training in adolescent rugby. The Sport Concussion Assessment Tools (SCAT) demonstrate robustness with the parent and child symptom scales, with the best diagnostic discrimination within the first 72 hours postinjury. Subacute evaluation (>72 hours) requires a multimodal tool incorporating symptom scales, balance measures, cognitive, oculomotor and vestibular, mental health, and sleep assessment, to which end the Sport Concussion Office Assessment Tools (SCOAT6 [13+] and Child SCOAT6 [8-12]) were developed. Rather than strict rest, early return to light physical activity and reduced screen time facilitate recovery. Cervicovestibular rehabilitation is recommended for adolescents with dizziness, neck pain, and/or headaches for greater than 10 days. Active rehabilitation and collaborative care for adolescents with persisting symptoms for more than 30 days may decrease symptoms. No tests and measures other than standardized and validated symptom rating scales are valid for diagnosing persisting symptoms after concussion. Fluid and imaging biomarkers currently have limited clinical utility in diagnosing or assessing recovery from SRC. Improved paradigms for return to school were developed. The variable nature of disability and differences in evaluating para athletes and those of diverse ethnicity, sex, and gender are discussed, as are ethical considerations and future directions in pediatric SRC research.

Consent, ethics and genetic biobanks: the case of the Athlome project.

This article provides a critical overview of the ethics and governance of genetic biobank research, using the Athlome Consortium as a large scale instance of collaborative sports genetic biobanking. We present a traditional model of written informed consent for the acquisition, storage, sharing and analysis of genetic data and articulate the challenges to it from new research practices such as genetic biobanking. We then articulate six possible alternative consent models: verbal consent, blanket consent, broad consent, meta consent, dynamic consent and waived consent. We argue that these models or conceptions of consent must be articulated in the context of the complexities of international legislation and non legislative national and international biobank governance frameworks and policies, those which govern research in the field of sports genetics. We discuss the tensions between individual rights and public benefits of genomic research as a critical ethical issue, particularly where benefits are less obvious, as in sports genomics. The inherent complexities of international regulation and biobanking governance are challenging in a relatively young field. We argue that there is much nuanced ethical work still to be done with regard to governance of sports genetic biobanking and the issues contained therein.

Concussion Ethics and Sports Medicine.

Despite considerable scientific dispute the science of concussion, there has been a proliferation of position statements and professional guidelines published on sports concussion management over the last 15 years. A number of ethical and clinical problems associated with concussion management protocols remain concerning, (i) diagnosis and management; (ii) conflicts of interest and coercion; (iii) same day return to play; and (iv) reporting, auditing and confidentiality. These issues are critically discussed in the light of recent Consensus Statements. It is argued that the use of independent match day doctors may ameliorate some of these concerns.

Understanding Eating Disorders in Elite Gymnastics: Ethical and Conceptual Challenges.

Eating disorders and disordered eating are more common in high performance sports than the general population, and particularly so in high performance aesthetic sports. This paper presents some of the conceptual difficulties in understanding and diagnosing eating disorders in high performance gymnasts. It presents qualitative and quantitative data from a study designed to ascertain the pattern of eating disorder symptoms, depressive symptoms and levels of self-esteem among national and international level gymnasts from the UK in the gymnastic disciplines of sport acrobatics, tumbling, and rhythmic gymnastics.

Performance enhancement, elite athletes and anti doping governance: comparing human guinea pigs in pharmaceutical research and professional sports.

In light of the World Anti Doping Agency's 2013 Code Revision process, we critically explore the applicability of two of three criteria used to determine whether a method or substance should be considered for their Prohibited List, namely its (potential) performance enhancing effects and its (potential) risk to the health of the athlete. To do so, we compare two communities of human guinea pigs: (i) individuals who make a living out of serial participation in Phase 1 pharmacology trials; and (ii) elite athletes who engage in what is effectively 'unregulated clinical research' by using untested prohibited or non-prohibited performance enhancing substances and methods, alone or in combination. Our comparison sheds light on norms of research ethics that these practices exacerbate with respect to the concepts of multiplicity, visibility, and consistency. We argue for the need to establish a proper governance framework to increase the accountability of these unregulated research practices in order to protect the human guinea pigs in elite sports contexts, and to establish reasonable grounds for the performance enhancing effects, and the risks to the health of the athlete, of the methods and substances that might justify their inclusion on the Prohibited List.

The utility of chest radiographs following percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the usefulness of performing routine postprocedure chest radiographs (CXRs) following percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) under bronchoscopic visualization. DESIGN: Retrospective, chart review. SETTING: Medical-surgical ICU of a teaching hospital. METHODS: Sixty patients who underwent PDT under bronchoscopic visualization, for persistent ventilator dependence, in our medical-surgical ICU were studied. We noted the occurrence of any perioperative complications, physician anticipation of postoperative complications, and postprocedure CXR findings. We compared postprocedure CXRs with the last preprocedure CXR. Immediate postoperative complication was defined as a clinical worsening, hemodynamic instability, or a new radiographic finding such as atelectasis, paratracheal placement, pneumothorax, and pneumomediastinum. We determined whether the postprocedure CXRs led to any change in patient management. OBSERVATION: Two patients (3.3%) had postoperative complications detected on their CXRs, one with a pneumomediastinum and the other with a tension pneumothorax. Both procedures were noted to be difficult, with a high physician anticipation of complication. In the remaining 58 patients (96.7%), no postoperative complications were detected on the postprocedure CXRs that necessitated any change in patient management. CONCLUSION: We concluded that routine CXR following PDT that had been performed under bronchoscopic visualization is unnecessary in the absence of clinical deterioration or the anticipation of postoperative complications.