Sections
Sports Injuries: Introduction | Epidemiology | Neurophysiology in Sports-Related mTBI | Brain Injury in Organized Sports | Sports-Related mTBI and Clinical Practice | Prevention | Pediatric Considerations | Gender and Sports-Related Concussion | Key Clinical Points | Recommended Readings | References
Excerpt
The majority of sport-related head injuries are
mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) events, traditionally referred
to as concussions. Per consensus definition, "concussion
is. . . a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain,
induced by traumatic biomechanical forces" (Aubry
et al. 2002, p. 57). Five specific common features are noted: 1)
causation by a direct blow to the head, face, neck, or elsewhere on
the body with an "impulsive" force transmitted
to the head; 2) a typically rapid onset of short-lived impairment
of neurological function that resolves spontaneously; 3) acute clinical
symptoms primarily reflecting functional disturbance versus structural
injury; 4) a resulting graded set of clinical syndromes that may
or may not involve loss of consciousness (LOC), with resolution
of clinical and cognitive symptoms generally following a sequential
course; and 5) typical association with grossly normal structural
neuroimaging studies. Five domains of specific signs and symptoms
of acute concussion are noted in Table 27–1; problems in
one or more of these domains raise the index of suspicion for diagnosis
of concussion.