NCT04701125

Medical Cooling of Ice Hockey Players

Selective Head-neck Cooling Following Concussion Shortens Return-to-play in Ice Hockey Players

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 81 (actual)
• Sponsor: Region Skane · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The incidence of Sports-related concussions (SRCs) has risen in recent years, not least in ice hockey, and available treatment options are limited. Here, we addressed the hypotheses that immediate controlled head- and neck cooling could hasten return-to-play in a Swedish cohort of concussed professional ice hockey players. Over three seasons, 15 teams used either immediate head- and neck cooling or standard management for SRC. All players (81) followed the same return-to-play management protocol.

Detailed description

Sports-related concussions (SRCs) are a growing health concern, since they may lead to persistent symptoms and, particularly if repeated, to e.g. depression, accelerated dementia onset, and development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Here, we addressed the hypotheses that immediate controlled head- and neck cooling could hasten return-to-play in a Swedish cohort of concussed professional ice hockey players. Over three seasons, 15 teams used either immediate head- and neck cooling or standard management for SRC. All players followed the same return-to-play management protocol. Using a baseline questionnaire, no difference in the number of previous SRCs between groups was observed. In total, 92 SRCs were recorded. Eleven players did not complete the study protocol, and thus 81 players were included. Of these, 29 were treated by immediate selective head- and neck cooling for ≥ 30 min, and 52 controls received standard acute SRC management.

Conditions

• Sports-related Concussions, Selective Head-neck Cooling, Return to Play

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	selective head-neck cooling using PolarCap system	Players receiving selective head-neck cooling after SRC

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-06-01
• Primary completion: 2020-06-01
• Completion: 2020-07-01
• First posted: 2021-01-08
• Last updated: 2021-01-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Sweden