Comprehensive Concussion Program

The Comprehensive Concussion Program monitors and manages the care of children, adolescents and young adults who are experiencing complex injuries, as well as prolonged and/or complicated recovery from their concussion.

Located within the Fight for Children Sports Medicine Center, our program experts assess issues that contribute to ongoing symptoms of concussion, develop a treatment plan for your child and provide follow-up care to guide your child’s recovery.

Specific areas of focus include:

• Guidance on how to support your child’s return to school
• Managing neurological symptoms with medication
• Strategies for alleviating pain and stress
• Supporting sleep and hydration during recovery
• Physical therapy for aerobic, vestibular and cervical-spinal dysfunction (coming soon)

The Comprehensive Concussion Program is a collaboration between several departments at Children's National Hospital, including the Safe Concussion Outcome Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program, Neurology, Behavioral Pain Medicine and Physical Therapy (coming soon).

Who We Help

The Comprehensive Concussion Program serves children, adolescents and young adults, ages 4 to 22, who meet any of the following criteria:

• Acute symptoms occurring in multiple areas (physical, cognitive, emotional, and fatigue/sleep, cervical)
• More “severe” acute injury with loss of consciousness > 1 minute or memory loss at the time of the injury
• High number or severity of acute symptoms
• Symptoms that are persisting at least one month post-injury

Preparing for your Visit

• Families should bring copies of important documentation (e.g., previous evaluations/testing) to your child’s appointment.
• We take a team approach during appointments; families will meet with multiple providers to assess various areas of functioning.
• Visits typically last 3-4 hours.
• Families will be sent several online forms for both caregiver and child to complete prior to visit.