Cooling Helmets to Decrease Concussion Symptoms

Current therapy of Mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) revolves around symptomatic care, rest, and return to school/sport/work after symptoms have resolved. The standard intervention for sufferers of mild traumatic brain injury is brain rest, which aims to decrease symptom intensity and duration, prevent re-injury and second impact syndrome via cessation of physical and cognitive activity, and to gradually increase activity as tolerated. Increased brain temperature can be a secondary injury result in TBI. There are limited studies, primarily in the sports medicine literature, that show head-neck cooling can be a useful adjunct as a treatment for mild TBI. Our objective will be to evaluate concussive symptoms via the Post-Concussion Symptom Severity Score Index by conducting patient follow up interviews at different timepoints over 72 hours after an emergency department visit for the head injury where head and neck cooling was applied.