A high school wide receiver suffered substantial head trauma during a tackle. The school nurse is concerned about concussion. The nurse provides which information to the adolescent and parents? Select all that apply.

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The child may exhibit a blank stare, confusion, and gait abnormalities, If concussion is suspected, the child should be prevented from returning to the field of play , Concussion assessment should be compared to pre-participation assessments. A concussion or mild traumatic brain injury is a common occurrence in contact sports where the child is at risk for rotational head trauma. A concussion can be difficult to diagnose because there are no structural abnormalities that can be seen on imaging studies such as MRI. Likewise, sideline screens are often imperfect and may be plagued with false positives and false negatives. Ideally, concussion assessments should be compared to assessments performed before the child started play. These are far more accurate than trying to assess the patient for the first time after head injury. While headache is a common symptom of concussion, headache is not necessary to suspect concussion. As such, lack of headache does not preclude a concussion diagnosis. Symptoms of concussion include headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, unsteady gait, mental slowness, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbance, anterograde amnesia, emotional lability, and a "blank stare."

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