After Concussion, Aerobics May Help Teens Recover Quicker

For teens, moderate aerobic exercise may shorten the recovery time after a sport-related concussion, according to results of a new study.

To examine the impact of subsymptom threshold aerobic exercise on adolescents in the acute phase of recovery from sport-related concussion, the researchers conducted a prospective randomized clinical trial at multiple university concussion centers.

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Boy and girl athletes aged 13 to 18 years who had presented within 10 days of their sport-related concussion were randomly assigned to either a progressive aerobic exercise (n = 52) or a progressive stretching regimen (n = 51), the latter of which acted as a placebo.

The participants performed their respective form of exercise for approximately 20 minutes a day, reporting their daily symptoms and logging their exercise on a website.

The participants who were prescribed aerobic exercise recovered in a median of 13 days, while participants who were assigned stretching recovered in 17 days.

Recovery was defined as being asymptomatic, having recovery confirmed through an assessment by a physician blinded to treatment group, and returning to normal exercise tolerance on treadmill testing.

The researchers also classified participants as having normal (< 30 days) or delayed (≥ 30 days) recovery; there was a nonsignificant lower incidence of delayed recovery in the aerobic exercise group (2 participants in the aerobic group vs 7 in the placebo group).

“Early subthreshold aerobic exercise appears to be an effective treatment for adolescents after sport-related concussion,” the researchers concluded.

“This is, to our knowledge, the first randomized controlled trial to show that individualized subsymptom threshold aerobic exercise treatment prescribed to adolescents with concussion symptoms during the first week after sport-related concussion speeds recovery and may reduce the incidence of delayed recovery.”

—Colleen Murphy

Reference:

Leddy JJ, Haider MN, Ellis MJ, et al. Early subthreshold aerobic exercise for sport-related concussion: a randomized clinical trial [published online February 4, 2019]. JAMA Pediatr. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4397.