Consensus statement on concussion in sport - the Third International Conference on Concussion in Sport held in Zurich, November 2008.

This paper is a revision and update of the recommendations developed following the 1st (Vienna) and 2nd (Prague) International Symposia on Concussion in Sport. The Zurich Consensus statement is designed to build on the principles outlined in the original Vienna and Prague documents and to develop further conceptual understanding of this problem using a formal consensus-based approach. A detailed description of the consensus process is outlined at the end of this document under the "background" section (see Section 11). This document is developed for use by physicians, therapists, certified athletic trainers, health professionals, coaches and other people involved in the care of injured athletes, whether at the recreational, elite, or professional level. While agreement exists pertaining to principal messages conveyed within this document, the authors acknowledge that the science of concussion is evolving, and therefore management and return-to-play (RTP) decisions remain in the realm of clinical judgment on an individualized basis. Readers are encouraged to copy and distribute freely the Zurich Consensus document and/or the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT2) card, and neither is subject to any copyright restriction. The authors request, however, that the document and/or the SCAT2 card be distributed in their full and complete format.