“Children are at risk anytime there is a contact sport, or there is high-energy movement of their bodies or things that are moving at their bodies – like sticks, or bats, or balls. There is always that risk – all that protective wear that we provide the children tries to prevent that. But there still [are] small risks of having head injury – in fact, several children every year come here with head injuries from sports.”

– Dr. Lonnie King, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

More than 775-thousand kids are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year for sports-related injuries.

Most of those injuries are the results of falls, collisions – or being struck by an object.

12-year old Brett is one of those statistics. He was playing third base when he was hit in the head by a line drive.

Brett seemed fine at the time, except for a headache.

“The next day his headache persisted, continued – and then he sort of complained that his headache was getting worse,” says Dr. Lonnie King, with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “He was having some dizziness and he vomited once – and so his mother brought him to the emergency room to get him checked.”

A preliminary examination in the E-R reveals very little.

“His brain is functioning normally, all the nerves are working and stuff,” says Dr. King. “But I think that, with this much headache and now vomiting today, we need to get a CAT scan.”

The results of the CAT scan are unexpected, and serious.

Brett’s brain is bruised, and bleeding.

“This is not something that’s probably going to require surgery,” says Dr. King, “but he’s got to be watched really closely.”

“Watched,” because injuries like this can lead to swelling of the brain – which, in some cases, is life threatening and requires surgery.

“If his headache gets worse, he starts vomiting more,” says Dr. King, “if he gets sleepy or has problems like that, then [a neurosurgeon] may need to drain that, to relieve the pressure on the brain.”

Brett was in intensive care for the next several days for observation. But he is fortunate. The blood on the surface of his brain will be absorbed, and the small skull fracture should heal on its own.

“In a matter of weeks, he should be fine,” says Dr. King. “His headache will be gone, he’ll be functioning normally; he will just have restrictions of no contact sports. But otherwise he will have a normal life and normal activities.”

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• Indications of a serious head injury may be apparent immediately – or may take hours to show themselves.
  
  Here are some signs that a head injury may be serious, and requires emergency medical treatment: severe headache, confusion, drowsiness, slurred speech, unusual behavior, unconsciousness. (National Institutes of Health)
• If your child suffers a serious head injury, do not attempt to wash a deep or bleeding head wound, do not move the child (unless absolutely necessary), do not remove any object sticking out of the wound, and – if they are wearing a helmet – do not remove headgear. (Shands Healthcare)
• For mild head injuries: wash any cuts or scrapes with soap and water, apply pressure with a clean cloth to stop any bleeding and – if there is swelling – put an ice pack on the affected area for about 20 minutes at a time. (Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center – Seattle, Washington)

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• University of Virginia Health System
• Penn State Children’s Hospital
• Children’s Hospital Boston

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