Medical Entry: Concussions

by svmehta on Aug 18, 2009 12:25 PM EDT

(bumped from FanPosts. --eric)

David Wright’s recent injury (and of course Ryan Church’s debacle) put us Met’s fan front and center when it comes to sports related concussions. I thought I’d write a little bit about concussions.

Mild traumatic brain injurty (mild TBI) is often used to describe concussions by medical personal. According to neurologists, concussion is defined as a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces. Its approximated that over 1 million people get concussions every year.

What actually happens in a concussion is the complex neuro network in our brains gets disrupted, either from swelling, direct shearing or even from free radicals generated after the injury (drink your antioxidants).

The symptoms are well known and include confusion, amnesia, headache, dizziness, ear ringing, vomiting, and slurred speech. Some symptoms only appear a little bit later, such as memory or concentration problems, sensitivity to light and noise, sleep disturbances, irritability and depression.

Some physicians will also evaluate something called the standardized assessment of concussion score. This takes into account orientation to place, immediate memory, concentration, delayed memory recall and actually a simple physical strength test. Using this score, physicians determine when patients can go back to play.

One major problem with concussion (again, as we found out with Church) is that there are significant sequelae that develop. These include (taken from UpToDate):

Postconcussion syndrome — These include headache, dizziness, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and cognitive impairment. These typically develop in the first days after mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and generally resolve within a few weeks to a few months

Post-traumatic headaches — Headaches occur in 25 to 78 of patients after mild Headaches may represent a specific injury to the head or neck, may be nonspecific in character, and may have a symptom pattern indistinguishable from other nontraumatic headache syndromes such as migraine and tension headache

Post-traumatic epilepsy — Mild TBI is associated with a twofold increase in the risk of epilepsy for the first five years after injury. Prophylactic treatment with anticonvulsants does not prevent post-traumatic epilepsy and is not recommended

Post-traumatic vertigo is a substantial contributor to disability after mild TBI.

Certainly hope that David doesn’t have any of the above symptoms lasting for a while…unfortunately only time will tell.

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any vetting or approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions, reasoning skills, or attention to grammar and usage rules held by the editors of this site.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 3 recs |

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Comments

Good post. Nice and informative.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Aug 17, 2009 11:43 PM EDT reply actions

Very Nice

"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green

by Stephen Schmidt on Aug 17, 2009 11:49 PM EDT reply actions

Always a huge fan when you write these medical posts

Rec’d thanks a lot

by Sokojoe on Aug 18, 2009 12:08 AM EDT reply actions

Excellent post.

But there’s no mention of Jeff Francouer!

by BobbyV_Incognito on Aug 18, 2009 12:13 AM EDT reply actions

OTOH

we hear david talking about how he wants to get back on the field as soon as possible to finish out this lost season. You have to know when to fold ‘em david. Shut it down for a couple months. It’s not worth it.

by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Aug 18, 2009 12:32 PM EDT reply actions

Hopefully the mets are dumb enough to give him the option

by Gina on Aug 18, 2009 1:37 PM EDT up reply actions

I disagree

With this outcry for David to shut it down. If he’s cleared by doctors, he can play. You don’t give up and roll into a ball because you’re out of the race. There seems to be a bit of, for lack of a better word, pussy-itus going on here, and I get it, considering the Church situation. But Wright didn’t get on a plane and play the next day in Colorado. He’s resting up, and on the DL as he should be, and this was the first concussion he’s had, unlike Church. I’m sure they will continue to monitor him, the front office and medical staff knows they will be scrutinized to the utmost, considering how other injuries have been handled. I imagine most of the posters on here on not doctors, but they are all somehow qualified to assess Wright and tell him to shut it down. Wright’s a grown man, qualified to make his own decisions, based on a dr.‘s clearance. If he’s cleared, they are legally obligated to play him or he has a grievance through the Player’s Union.

by David G on Aug 18, 2009 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Put it this way, though:

He should play, but only, and I mean ONLY if he’s 100%.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Aug 18, 2009 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions

He's qualified to make his own decisions

But it’s stupid to let him play and risk his career with what we have invested in him. Teams dissalow athletes from doing things all the time in order to protect their investment. Unless they choose not to pay him I don’t see what basis he would have for a grievance. Not to mention head injuries are incredibly unpredictable and there’s already been an instance of a playing being cleared by doctors, even after the trip to Coors, and suffering effects weeks later. And it’s not about being able to assess right it’s about there being no reward for taking the risk at all, so why take it?

by Gina on Aug 18, 2009 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions