A course available through MedBridge Inc provides participants an overview of the components of an ocular motor examination following concussion, along with normal and abnormal findings. The MedBridge website notes that demonstrations of techniques for evaluation and video examples of pathological findings will be shown. The implications of abnormal ocular motor findings for recovery will also be reviewed.

The website states that the first chapter in the Concussion: Vestibular Abnormalities and Ocular Examination course, “Vestibular System Abnormalities Following Concussion: Beyond Balance,” is designed to teach participants how to recognize components of an ocular motor examination in patients following concussion. Course instructors Anne Mucha, DPT, MS, NCS, and Susan Whitney, DPT, PhD, NCS, ATC, FAPTA, will demonstrate how to perform all components of an ocular motor examination in patients following concussion, the site says. Additionally, participants will learn how to identify normal and abnormal findings for each ocular motor examination component.

In the second chapter, “Ocular Motor Examination in Concussion,” the site notes that Mucha and Whitney teach participants how to perform components of the ocular motor exam, including testing of smooth pursuits, saccades, gaze holding, and vergence. The participant will learn how to perform ocular alignment testing and recognize phorias, triophias, and skew deviations and identify normal and abnormal findings for the above tests and measures. The chapter is intended to offer insight into the relevance of findings in the ocular motor exam and intervention options.

In the third and final chapter of the course, Whitney and Mucha discuss a case study, encompassing a wrestler, aged 13 years old, with a labyrinthine concussion. Whitney and Mucha discuss their take on this concussion case.

Mucha is the coordinator of vestibular rehabilitation for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Concussion Program and Centers for Rehab Services. She is a board-certified clinical specialist in Neurologic Physical Therapy with advanced certification in vestibular rehabilitation. With more than 20 years in treating individuals with neurologic conditions, Mucha is also actively involved in clinical research related to the evaluation and management of patients following concussion.

Whitney received her PhD in motor development/motor learning from the University of Pittsburgh, her professional physical therapy education from Temple University in Philadelphia, and her DPT from MGH Institute of the Health Sciences. Currently, she is a professor in physical therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences.

[Source: MedBridge Inc]