Saturday, July 26, 2014
YOUNGSTOWN — Concussions are costly.
Here is the tab you can accumulate:
Emergency room visit: $1,664.
CT scan: $1,462.
MRI: $3,665.
Hospital stay: $34,030.
These numbers, while typical in the Mahoning Valley, may seem far-fetched to some, but consider this: Nearly 1 in 10 people who end up in an emergency room with a sports-related concussion have injuries serious enough to require hospitalization.
Nationwide, that’s an average of 21,839 people a year, according to 16 years of data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, operated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The average stay is 21⁄2 days, according to 2011 data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
“They always do blood work. That’s automatic,” said Joann Gelonese, who works as a pharmacist at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman. She has two sons, both of whom have had multiple concussions.
“They may consult a neurologist depending on the symptoms. They may do an EEG test, which could even lead into an MRI, but it’s hard to say,” she said.
For the complete story, read Sunday's Vindicator and Vindy.com