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Concussion diagnosis methods rapidly advancing
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For orthopedic surgeons who work on the sidelines of athletic teams, it is important to be able to recognize a concussion after a head injury in athletes, as misdiagnosis may lead to severe brain damage, prolonged disability and even death. However, concussions may be tough to diagnose if orthopedists do not know what to look for or if athletes do not report their symptoms.
“[Concussions are] currently diagnosed as a transient alteration in mental status that may or may not require loss of consciousness that may result from a direct or indirect blow to the head,” Mathew Pombo, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the Department of Orthopedic Sports Medicine at Emory University and Emory Sports Concussion Program, told Orthopedics Today. “That is essentially what the definition of a concussion is. The struggle is, ‘What does that mean?’”
Pombo said a concussion “can present as a 5-minute headache and then the patient reports that they feel fine. It can present as a cognitive dysfunction. It present as eye dysfunction where patients’ eyes do not track symmetrically. It can present as balance and vestibular dysfunction. It can present as mood and sleep disorders. It can present as migraine headaches. This makes it a non-uniform injury that requires a detailed understanding of the heterogeneous nature of symptoms. Therefore, defining it can be difficult.”
Click here to read the full Cover Story in the December issue of Orthopedics Today.