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What is a Concussion? |
The term concussion describes an injury to the brain resulting from an impact to the head. By definition, a concussion is not a life-threatening injury, but it can cause both short-term and long-term problems. A concussion results from a closed-head type of injury and does not include injuries in which there is bleeding under the skull or into the brain.
The brain floats in cerebrospinal fluid and is encased in the skull. These protections allow it to withstand many of the minor injuries that occur in day to day life. However, if there is sufficient force to cause the brain to bounce against the rigid bones of the skull, then there is potential for injury. It is the acceleration and deceleration of the brain against the inside of the skull that can cause the brain to be irritated and interrupt its function. The acceleration can come from a direct blow to the head or face, or from other body trauma that causes the head to shake. While temporary loss of consciousness due to injury means that a concussion has taken place, most concussions occur without the patient being knocked out.
Research done by Sports Medicine II students Trever Barker, Garrett Bryan, and Vincent Rodriguez |
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Symptoms |
Typical Symptoms
•Headache
•Dizziness
•Nausea
•Unsteadiness/loss of balance
•Confusion
•Unaware of period, opposition, score of game
•Feeling "dinged", stunned or "dazed"
•Seeing stars or flashing lights
•Ringing in the ears
•Double vision
•Short Term/Long Term memory loss
Physical signs
•Loss of consciousness/impaired conscious state
•Concussive convulsion/impact seizure
•Gait unsteadiness/loss of balance
•Slow to answer questions or follow directions
•Easily distracted, poor concentration
•Displaying unusual or inappropriate emotions
•Nausea/vomiting
•Vacant stare/glassy eyed
•Slurred speech
•Personality changes
•Inappropriate playing behavior
•Significantly decreased playing ability
•Poor coordination or balance
Research done by Sports Medicine II students Bradley Clayton, Matthew Cox, Angel Jordan, and David Olvera |
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What is Second Impact Syndrome? |
Second Impact Syndrome is a second concussion resulting from a jarring of the brain after a previous concussion has not completely healed. SIS causes rapid and severe swelling of the brain and can lead to catastrophic results including loss of speech, neurological imparedness and many other kinds of brain damage. There is a fifty-fifty chance of having long term effects or death when dealing with SIS. Your best chance of survival is to already be at the hospital when it occurs (this is not a likely scenario). SIS can be a result from a concussion that may have occurred up to weeks before the second concussion. In order for SIS to occur a prior concussion must not be completely healed. A concussion is simply a brain trauma caused by blunt force to the head and if that is not completely healed then once a second jarring of the brain occurs this is where many athletes show signs of SIS.
The brain controls the amount of blood volume and when SIS occurs the regulating factor of the brain is damaged which causes increased cerebral blood volume. This causes brainstem hemorrhaging and possible death within as little as three to five minutes. The brain death occurs so quickly that SIS has a very high mortality rate in young athletes. If an injury such as this one is suspected then a CT and MRI are needed to check for internal bleeding and medical history should be checked. An approximation of about 1.6 to 3.8 million sports related concussions occur every year and of these the most susceptible to Second Impact Syndrome with a rate per 1000 athletes is:
. Football (2.38)
. Men’s Ice Hockey (1.47)
. Women’s soccer (1.42)
. Wrestling (1.27)
. Men’s soccer (1.08)
. Women’s lacrosse (0.70)
. Field hockey (0.57)
. Women’s basketball (0.50)
. Men’s basketball (0.32)
. Softball (0.25)
. Baseball (0.19)
. Volleyball (0.15)
Research done by Sports Medicine II students Blake Bruyere, Abby Mitchell, and Austin Pike
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