Sports and childhood brain tumors: Can I play?
Sébastien Perreault1, Robert M Lober1, Carissa Davis1
1Department of Neurology , Division of Child Neurology, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University , Palo Alto, California (S.P.1, C.D., S.P.2, P.G.F.); Division of Child Neurology , CHU Sainte-Justine , Montreal, Quebec , Canada (S.P.1); Department of Neurosurgery , Stanford University , Palo Alto, California (R.M.L., P.G.F.); Lane Medical Library , Stanford University , Palo Alto, California (C.S.); Department of Pediatrics , Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University , Palo Alto, California (P.G.F.); Human Biology , Stanford University , Palo Alto, California (P.G.F.).
Background:
It is unknown whether children with brain tumors have a higher risk of complications while participating in sports. We sought to estimate the prevalence of such events by conducting a systematic review of the literature, and we surveyed providers involved with pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumor patients.
Methods:
A systematic review of the literature in the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases was conducted for original articles addressing sport-related complications in the brain-tumor population. An online questionnaire was created to survey providers involved with pediatric CNS tumor patients about their current recommendations and experience regarding sports and brain tumors.
Results:
We retrieved 32 subjects, including 19 pediatric cases from the literature. Most lesions associated with sport complications were arachnoid cysts (n = 21), followed by glioma (n = 5). The sports in which symptom onset most commonly occurred were soccer (n = 7), football (n = 5), and running (n = 5). We surveyed 111 pediatric neuro-oncology providers. Sport restriction varied greatly from none to 14 sports. Time to return to play in sports with contact also varied considerably between providers. Rationales for limiting sports activities were partly related to subspecialty. Responders reported 9 sport-related adverse events in patients with brain tumor.
Conclusions:
Sport-related complications are uncommon in children with brain tumors. Patients might not be at a significantly higher risk and should not need to be excluded from most sports activities.
