Citation

Stovitz SD, Weseman JD, Hooks MC, Schmidt RJ, Koffel JB, Patricios JS. Curr. Sports Med. Rep. 2017; 16(1): 50-55.

Affiliation

1Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; 2University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN; 3Bio-Medical Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN; 4Section of Sports Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; and 5Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1249/JSR.0000000000000326

PMID

28067742

Abstract

Concern about what has been termed, "second impact syndrome" (SIS) is a major factor determining return-to-play decisions after concussion. However, definitions of SIS vary. We used Scopus to conduct a systematic review and categorize the definitions used to describe SIS. Of the 91 sources identified, 79 (87%) clearly specified that SIS involved either cerebral edema or death after a concussion when a prior concussion had not resolved. Twelve articles (13%) could be interpreted as merely the events of two consecutive concussions. Among the articles that listed mortality rates, nearly all (33/35, 94%) said the rate of death was "high" (e.g., 50% to 100%). Our review found that most articles define SIS as a syndrome requiring catastrophic brain injury after consecutive concussive episodes. Given that it is unclear how common it is to have a second concussion while not fully recovered from a first concussion, the actual mortality rate of SIS is unknown.

Language: en