Review: Proper concussion assessment procedures weren’t followed at ’14 World Cup
TORONTO — An avid soccer fan, Toronto-based neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Cusimano gets concerned every time he sees a player stay on the pitch after showing symptoms of a head injury.
He decided to explore the issue at the game’s highest level, leading a research team that systematically examined the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The results, published online Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated international recommendations for assessing whether an athlete had suffered a concussion were not followed at the tournament.
“The concussions primarily occur with player-to-player contact in the vast majority of cases,” Cusimano said. “Our point with this is very simple. If somebody sustains something, they should be properly assessed. It should ideally be a doctor that properly assesses them.
“It’s a very simple message.”