Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/RvII1BZlmOU Pediatric sports medicine specialists at the University of Colorado report that a simple test, the Romberg test, can predict which children will suffer lasting effects from a concussion and would benefit from proactive therapy.  Their study was just published in the Journal of Neurosurgery;Pediatrics. The data from more than 350 children and adolescents with a mean age of nearly 15 years showed that an abnormal Romberg balance test was the best predictor of prolonged symptoms after the traumatic brain injury.  This test was more predictive than other variables including self-reported headache severity, headache frequency, confusion, forgetfulness,  inattention, memory lapses, fatigue, and dizziness failed to correlate with the duration of issues post-concussion. The Romberg test is simple to perform.  The subject stands with feet together and eyes closed.  The test is deemed positive if the individual cannot maintain balance with minimal movement. This finding is importa