Our office has been busy the last few weeks pounding through our annual rush of school and sports physicals. I really enjoy this time of year, because it gives me a chance to catch up with kids who've been healthy over the past 12 months and haven't been in to see me. It also gives me an opportunity to really dig through any issues they may have had over the past year, especially any red flags for sudden cardiac death.
About 1 in 100,000 students will die from sudden cardiac death every year. Every time I hear or read about a student athlete who died suddenly, I think to myself "Somebody cleared that kid to play sports". There is no way we can prevent every case of sudden cardiac death in youths, but we can definitely prevent a few of them by doing a comprehensive annual exam.
These exams focus particularly on obtaining a thorough history from the student and their parent(s). We ask questions about chest pain, lightheadedness, and shortness of breath, either at rest or with exertion. Other important parts of the history include fainting, almost fainting, decrease in exercise tolerance and updating the patient's family history regarding any family members who have died suddenly. The encounter also give us a chance to talk about concussions, physical and emotional development, academic successes and family life. On physical examination, all patients require a thorough cardiac exam and evaluation for conditions such as Marfan's syndrome, which can lead to sudden cardiac death.
There is no possible way to do this type of clearance exam on a child/adolescent in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, there are parents who utilize this type of sports physical to clear their child to participate in sports. There are walk-in clinics just up the street from my office who offer these "convenient" exams for $30. I implore all of you to avoid this.
Take your child to his or her physician for a full well-child exam. It only takes about 15 minutes. The exam will reinforce your child's relationship with their physician, and it will give you peace of mind that a trained professional has determined your child is safe to participate.
One child dying from a preventable condition is one too many.
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Good point. There are too many of these deaths (seems like one every few months).
ReplyDeleteNeed of the Austin Sports Physicals is necessary as before participating in sports,full body examination of the child is required to stop any type of future mishappenings due to sports.
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