|
Abstract
|
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review provides the reader with an overview of concussion and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Key aspects of the pathophysiology, signs, and symptoms, treatment and rehabilitation, and recovery from concussion/mild TBI are reviewed with an emphasis on the variety of factors that may contribute to cognitive concerns following injury.
RECENT FINDINGS: Concussion remains a clinical diagnosis based on symptoms that occur in the immediate aftermath of an applied force and in the hours, days, and weeks thereafter. Although advances have been made in advanced diagnostics, including neuroimaging and fluid biomarkers in hopes of developing objective indicators of injury, such markers currently lack sufficient specificity to be used in clinical diagnostics. The symptoms of concussion are heterogeneous and may be seen to form subtypes, each of which suggests a targeted rehabilitation by the interdisciplinary team. Although the majority of patients with concussion recover within the first 30 to 90 days after injury, some have persistent disabling symptoms. The concept of postconcussion syndrome, implying a chronic syndrome of injury-specific symptoms, is replaced by a broader concept of persistent symptoms after concussion. This concept emphasizes the fact that most persistent symptoms have their basis in complex somatic, cognitive, psychiatric, and psychosocial factors related to risk and resilience. This framework leads to the important conclusion that concussion is a treatable injury from which nearly all patients can be expected to recover.
SUMMARY: Concussion/mild TBI is a significant public health problem in civilian, military, and organized athletic settings. Recent advances have led to a better understanding of underlying pathophysiology and symptom presentation and efficacious treatment and rehabilitation of the resulting symptoms. An interdisciplinary team is well-positioned to provide problem-oriented, integrated care to facilitate recovery and to advance the evidence base supporting effective practice in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
Language: en |