Updated: Aug 6, 2009
Concussion has many different meanings to patients, families, and physicians.1,2,3,4 One definition of concussion is a condition in which there is a traumatically induced alteration in mental status, with or without an associated loss of consciousness (LOC).4 A broader definition for concussion is a traumatically induced physiologic disruption in brain function that is manifest by LOC, memory loss, alteration of mental state or personality, or focal neurologic deficits.4 Concussions usually result in relatively temporary impairment of neurologic function.3,5,6
Concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) is common among most contact and collision sports participants.4,7,8,9,10,11,12 For many physicians, even those who specialize in MTBI, this area is confusing due to the paucity of scientific evidence to support much of the clinical decision making that is faced in the office.1,2,9,13,14 The inconsiderable amount of good scientific research in the area of MTBI is due to problems with ambiguous definitions of concussion, inconsistent criteria when selecting patients to study, variability of injury mechanisms and locations, and differing means of measuring cognitive function.15,16 The purpose of this article is to review the epidemiology and diagnosis (but not necessarily the classification) of MTBI, as well as the role of imaging studies, issues regarding return to play, and complications surrounding MTBI.
For excellent patient education resources, visit eMedicine's Back, Ribs, Neck, and Head Center, Brain and Nervous System, and Dementia Center. Also, see eMedicine's patient education articles Concussion, Head Injury, and Dementia in Head Injury.
Related eMedicine topics:
Head Injury [in the Neurology section]
Head Trauma [in the Pediatrics section]
Traumatic Brain Injury: Definition, Epidemiology, Pathophysiology [in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation section]
The incidence of head injury varies with the sport and the age of the participants; many head injuries are likely unreported due to their supposed mild nature; mild concussions may go unnoticed by teammates, coaches, and even the athletes themselves.4 An athlete's fear of medical disqualification may also lead to underreporting. Studies of high school athletes show the rate of concussions per 1000 exposures as follows: 0.59 for football (boys), 0.25 for wrestling (boys), 0.18 for soccer (boys; 0.23 for girls), 0.09 for field hockey (girls), and 0.11 for basketball (boys; 0.16 for girls).
Among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) soccer players, the rate of injury has been reported as 0.4-0.6 per 1000 athlete exposures11 ; 72% of these injuries were described as mild and were almost always secondary to direct contact with an opponent. None of the injuries in this group of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) soccer players was noted to be a direct result of heading the ball. In contrast, boxing is the sport with the highest rate of head injuries and has more deaths than any other organized athletic activity. At the professional level, many of the boxing bouts end with a technical knockout (ie, brain injury).
Sports activities that place the athlete at high risk for a head injury include boxing, football, ice hockey, wrestling, rugby, and soccer. Physicians and other allied health providers who are responsible for the medical care of such contact or collision sports participants should be adept at evaluating, treating, and making playability decisions related to the short- and long-term consequences of an injury to the brain.
The mechanisms of brain injury may differ among sports activities. Possible mechanisms of injury include compressive forces, which may directly injure the brain at the point of contact (coup); tensile forces produce injury at the point opposite the injury (contrecoup) because the axons and nerves are stretched; finally, rotational forces may result in a shearing of axons. Therefore, the direct force at the point of contact may not be solely responsible for the severity of an injury if a high rotational component with a significant shear effect occurs.
All of the different mechanisms may result in biochemical changes related to perfusion, energy demand, and utilization at the site of injury that are not well understood. At this time, it is unclear whether any experimental animal model or human studies on more severe brain-injured patients accurately reflect the pathophysiology of the typical mild traumatic alteration in brain function.
Athletes with an MTBI often appear acutely with a confused or blank expression or blunted affect. Delayed response to simple questioning may be demonstrated, along with emotional lability. The emotional lability may become more evident as the athlete attempts to cope with their confusion. Many athletes report an associated headache and dizziness. Visual complaints may include seeing stars, blurry vision, or double vision.
Both pretraumatic (retrograde) amnesia and posttraumatic (antegrade) amnesia may be present. Usually, the duration of retrograde amnesia is quite brief, with a more variable duration of posttraumatic amnesia (seconds to minutes), depending upon the injury.
A history of persistent vomiting may suggest a significant brain injury with associated elevated intracranial pressure. Other signs of increased intracranial pressure include worsening headache, increasing disorientation, and changing level of consciousness. Possible causes of increasing intracranial pressure include subdural hematomas, epidural hematomas, or some other type of intracranial hemorrhage.
It is important to document a previous history of concussions. Multiple concussions with prolonged neurologic symptoms (eg, headache, hyperacusis, dizziness) suggest postconcussive syndrome and should influence return-to-play decisions.7,8,12,17,18,19,20
Related eMedicine topics:
Closed Head Trauma [in the Neurosurgery section]
Delirium, Dementia, and Amnesia [in the Emergency Medicine section]
Dementia Due to Head Trauma [in the Psychiatry section]
Intracranial Hemorrhage and Epidural Hematoma [in the Neurology section]
Subdural Hematoma [in the Emergency Medicine section]
Subdural Hematoma [in the Neurosurgery section]
Repetitive Head Injury Syndrome
Epidural Hematoma (in the Emergency Medicine section) (See also the eMedicine article Epidural Hematoma [in the Radiology section].)
Intracranial Hemorrhage
Seizure disorders (See also the eMedicine article Seizures and Epilepsy: Overview and Classification.)
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (in the Neurosurgery section) (See also the eMedicine article Subarachnoid Hemorrhage [in the Emergency Medicine section].)
Subdural Hematoma (in the Neurology section) (See also the eMedicine article Subdural Hematoma [in the Radiology section].)
Trauma-induced migraine
Trauma-induced headache
Most of the complications listed below probably already existed when the athlete sustained the initial head injury; in other words, they are not caused by an MTBI. These conditions may be associated with what was thought of as an MTBI. Therefore, the reader should not think of these conditions as a complication of an MTBI but must consider these other conditions when evaluating an athlete with a head injury.
Consultation with a neurologist or primary care sports medicine physician is indicated for patients who have prolonged symptoms. Neuropsychologic consultation may also be considered to document any deficits that may interfere with the athlete's return to sport, school, or work.
Overall, no medical therapy is usually prescribed for patients after an acute brain injury. Pain control is usually achieved with over-the-counter medications, such as acetaminophen. Avoid narcotics so that clouding of the patient's mental status or neurologic examination does not occur.
Pain control is essential to quality patient care. Analgesics ensure patient comfort, promote pulmonary toilet, and have sedating properties, which are beneficial for patients who have sustained trauma or those who have sustained injuries.
DOC for pain in patients with documented hypersensitivity to aspirin and/or NSAIDs; patients diagnosed with upper GI disease or who are on oral anticoagulants.
325-650 mg PO q4-6h or 1000 mg tid/qid; not to exceed 4 g/d
<12 years: 10-15 mg/kg/dose PO q4-6h prn; not to exceed 2.6 g/d
>12 years: 325-650 mg PO q4h; not to exceed 5 doses in 24 h
Rifampin can reduce the analgesic effects of acetaminophen; coadministration with barbiturates, carbamazepine, hydantoins, and isoniazid may increase hepatotoxicity.
Documented hypersensitivity
B - Fetal risk not confirmed in studies in humans but has been shown in some studies in animals
Hepatotoxicity can occur, in chronic alcoholics, with various dose levels of acetaminophen; severe or recurrent pain or high or continued fever may indicate a serious illness.
Return-to-play criteria are controversial. Similar to classification guidelines, several different guidelines regarding return to play have been established. No scientific evidence exists to justify one criterion versus another criterion. The main criteria for an athlete's return to play include complete clearing of all symptoms, complete return of all memory and concentration, and no symptoms after provocative testing. Provocative testing includes jogging, sprinting, sit-ups, or push-ups — in other words, some type of exercise that raises the athlete's blood pressure and heart rate.
The rules are the same for athletes who have a concussion that prohibits return to play during competition. Only after all symptoms have cleared both at rest and with exertion should an athlete even consider returning to practice or competition. In addition, the athlete has to show complete resolution of any emotional lability, mood disturbance, attention, or concentration difficulty. Relatively minor concussions may have more prolonged neurologic deficits. Therefore, the most important aspect of all published guidelines is the concept of an athlete not being allowed to return to play until he/she is completely asymptomatic.
See Postconcussive Syndrome, above (in the Treatment, Acute Phase, Medical Issues/Complications section).
Injury prevention methods are currently being studied. In the past, rule changes that barred spearing in football and teaching football players not to lead with their head have significantly reduced the frequency of severe head injuries in American football.
Equipment and environmental changes can also prevent injury. Soccer goals must be anchored to the ground because many deaths secondary to head injury in soccer have been the direct result of a goal tipping over onto a player.
There is controversy regarding possible helmet wearing in soccer. Although helmets have been shown to clearly reduce the risk of head injury in recreational bicycle riding, no clear evidence exists that the type of headgear proposed for youth soccer will prevent acute or chronic head injury among soccer players.31 Long-term studies that examine soccer players over time and that compare the players to themselves in a longitudinal fashion have not been completed. Thus far, studies that suggest long-term damage from heading have been methodologically flawed by comparing soccer players to other athletes, and these studies have not been able to distinguish heading from previous concussions. Most concussions in soccer are the result of direct contact rather than heading of the ball.
Even if helmets are used, no guarantee exists that they will necessarily fit. Studies of football helmet use in high school have demonstrated that only 15% of the helmets fit properly.32 Further documentation of the possible increase in the risk of head injury associated with poor helmet fit has not been completed.
Although mouth guards have been advocated for injury prevention purposes, no controlled study has proven their usefulness in concussion prevention.
Most patients with an MTBI are able to return to full competition without complication. Because many patients may not report minor head injuries to the athletic trainer, emergency department, or a primary care physician, the overall prognosis of many head injuries is unclear.
Chronic postconcussive syndrome can be quite severe, with the most dramatic presentation including dementia pugilistica, which is associated with boxing. This Alzheimer-like condition has a reported incidence of 15% among professional boxers. Fortunately, this condition is rare in most other sports. Hopefully, more frequent, detailed neuropsychologic testing will decrease the frequency of postconcussive syndrome among elite and professional athletes by detecting more subtle injuries earlier.
Related eMedicine topics:
Alzheimer Disease [in the Neurology section]
Alzheimer Disease [in the Radiology section]
It is important to educate allied health professionals, coaches, families, and athletes about the recognition and acute management of a concussion, the difficulties involved with a concussion, the difficulty in managing and treating concussions, and the subtle problems with long-term complications. Understanding and recognition of these issues by all of the above may help to prevent recurrent concussion problems. Inexperienced healthcare providers may want to use some type of published guideline when initially managing these injuries.
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concussion, mild traumatic brain injury, MTBI, head injury, brain injury, traumatic neurologic dysfunction syndrome, second impact syndrome, postconcussion syndrome, post-concussion syndrome, postconcussive syndrome, post-concussive syndrome, repetitive head injury syndrome
David T Bernhardt, MD, Director of Adolescent and Sports Medicine Fellowship, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin
David T Bernhardt, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Sports Medicine, and American Medical Society for Sports Medicine
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
Joseph P Garry, MD, FACSM, FAAFP,, Director of Sports Medicine and Sports Medicine Fellowship, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Exercise and Sport Science, Department of Family Medicine, East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine
Joseph P Garry, MD, FACSM, FAAFP, is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Sports Medicine, American Heart Association, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, and North American Primary Care Research Group
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine
Disclosure: eMedicine Salary Employment
Jon B Whitehurst, MD, Clinical Instructor of Surgery, University of Illinois College of Medicine; Partner and Executive Board Member, Rockford Orthopedic Associates; Orthopedic Chairman, Rockford Memorial Hospital
Jon B Whitehurst, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and Arthroscopy Association of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
Sherwin SW Ho, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Section of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Chicago
Sherwin SW Ho, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and Arthroscopy Association of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.
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