Previous studies
concussion, head injury, injury of head is often diagnosed, traumatic brain injury
No other published randomized trial has tested the impact of implementing a clinical pathway for pediatric concussion in the ED, although a prior quality improvement study showed a simple intervention increased the completeness of discharge instructions [Although the effects of pathway implementation did not vary by diagnosis, concussion diagnoses were associated with longer times from physician initial assessment to disposition, an increased likelihood of return ED visits and follow-up outpatient visits, and higher physician claims, compared to other head injury diagnoses. Thus, a diagnosis of concussion was associated with more intensive and costly health care utilization. However, unspecified injury of head is often diagnosed in the ED rather than concussion despite documented evidence of traumatic brain injury, and, therefore, was historically included in CDC surveillance definitions of traumatic brain injury [