Pharmacologic Treatment of Sport-Related Concussion: A Review

The goals of the current study were to review the published research over the past decade and to summarize the findings related to pharmacologic approaches in the treatment of sport-related concussion (SRC). PubMed searches across all databases were employed using combinations of the key words and search phrases ‘‘concussion,’’ ‘‘mild traumatic brain injury,’’ ‘‘pharmacology,’’ ‘‘treatment,’’ and ‘‘sports,’’ along with specific classes of pharmacologic agents. The few studies found were based primarily on clinician experience, with frequent reference to animal models. No clinical pharmacologic trials of SRC were found. The pharmacologic treatment of SRC remains focused on specific symptoms, and there is as yet no evidence-based treatment. On the basis of the limited published research, the authors offer some preliminary guidelines regarding the use of pharmacologic therapies in SRC. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 22(3):193–197, 2013)