Neuropsychological functioning and recovery after mild head injury in collegiate athletes.

OBJECTIVE: This study prospectively examined neuropsychological functioning in 2300 collegiate football players from 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division A universities. The study was designed to determine the presence and duration of neuropsychological symptoms after mild head injury. METHODS: A nonequivalent repeated measures control group design was used to compare the neuropsychological test scores and symptoms of injured players (n = 183) with those of gender, age, and education matched controls. A number of neuropsychological tests, including the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, the Digit Symbol Test, and the Trail Making Test, as well as a symptom checklist were used. TECHNIQUE: Players and controls were assessed before engaging in game activity and 24 hours, 5 days, and 10 days after injury, using the standardized test battery and symptom checklist. RESULTS: Players with head injuries displayed impaired performance and increased symptoms in comparison to controls, but this impairment resolved within 5 days in most players. Players with head injuries showed significant improvement between 24 hours and 5 days, as well as between 5 and 10 days. CONCLUSION: Although single, uncomplicated mild head injuries do cause limited neuropsychological impairment, injured players generally experience rapid resolution of symptoms with minimal prolonged sequelae.

University of Virginia prospective study of football-induced minor head injury: status report.

We have recently completed the field work phase of a 4-year prospective study of football-induced minor head injuries. Players from 10 University football teams were monitored up to 4 years, and a brief neuropsychological and psychosocial assessment battery was administered to them up to five times before and after injury. Objectives of this project focus on the frequency of head injuries in college football, the impairments that might result from such injury, the duration of impairments, the time course of their recovery, and the possibility of cumulative effects of multiple injuries during the player's college career. Approximately 2500 players were monitored during the study, and nearly 200 players were restudied following minor head injuries. A series of nearly 60 players with orthopedic injuries were tested using the same protocol, and a college student control series of 50 patients were similarly studied. Data analyses are currently underway, and the first report of the findings of this study will be available soon. This article has described the objectives and design of this study, outlined the neuropsychological and psychosocial assessment protocol, and discussed some of the issues related to project implementation. Current data analyses focus on the size of the effects of minor head injury on cognitive and psychosocial performance observed following minor head injury. Upon completion of the initial data analyses, our analysis plan includes having at least two neuropsychologists make independent assessments of the clinical significance of the findings. Similar assessments will be made of the neurophysical symptoms and complaints and psychosocial performance of players after injury.

Neurosurgical complications after apparently minor head injury. Assessment of risk in a series of 610 patients.

A small number of patients with an apparently minor head injury will develop a life-threatening intracranial hematoma that must be rapidly detected and removed. To assess the risk of a significant intracranial neurosurgical complication after apparently minor head injury, the authors collected data prospectively on 610 patients who had sustained a transient posttraumatic loss of consciousness or other neurological function and who had a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 13, 14, or 15 in the emergency room. Skull x-ray films were obtained in 583 patients, 66 of whom (10.8% of the study population) had cranial fractures. Eighteen of the 610 patients (3.0%) required a neurosurgical procedure. Three acute subdural hematomas, one epidural hematoma, and one traumatic intracerebral hematoma required craniotomy. Of the 66 patients who had skull fracture, 7.6% required a craniotomy for intracranial hematoma. Thirteen (19.7%) of the 66 patients with skull fracture required an operative procedure as compared to five (1.0%) of the 517 patients without skull fracture. Two patients with a normal GCS score of 15 and normal skull x-ray films subsequently underwent operative treatment. The cost of three alternative management schemes for these patients was estimated. A 50% reduction in cost of management could be effected by the use of computerized tomography (CT) scans (or possibly skull x-ray films) in determining which of the patients who are alert at the time of presentation should be admitted for observation. Several other conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, an initial GCS score between 13 and 15 does not necessarily indicate that a patient has sustained a trivial head injury, since 3% of such patients will require an operative procedure despite an initially normal level of alertness. Second, an abnormal skull x-ray film increases by a factor of 20 the probability that a patient will need neurosurgical treatment. Third, it is very unusual for patients who have a GCS score of 15 and a normal skull x-ray film to have a significant neurosurgical complication. Fourth, the alternative management schemes that depend on selective use of skull films and CT scans may significantly reduce the cost of caring for patients with minor head injury.

Epidemiologic features of head injury in a predominantly rural population.

The characteristics of occurrence of head trauma were studied in north central Virginia. In 1978, 735 cases of head trauma were identified with documented head injuries occurring within the defined service area, and with a minimum overnight hospital stay. Overall occurrence was 208/100,000 population. The highest occurrence was found in the 15-19 age group (407/100,000). Nonwhites showed higher rates than whites. Motor vehicle crashes were the most frequent mechanism of injury (55% of patients) followed by falls (20%), and interpersonal violence (11%). Short-term time trends reveal unique daily, weekly, and seasonal patterns for motor vehicle crashes, falls, and interpersonal violence. Selected prevention strategies are discussed. The use of passive restraints in motor vehicles is recommended as one important means of reducing the occurrence and severity of head injuries.

Neuropsychological sequelae of minor head injury.

Seventy-one patients with minor head injury were given extensive neuropsychological evaluations 3 months after injury. A significant percentage of the patients demonstrated cognitive impairment, which seemed essentially unrelated to the length of unconsciousness or of posttraumatic amnesia. Impaired patients evidenced memory and visuospatial deficits. Cognitively impaired patients also had difficulty returning to work after injury. The psychological and cognitive impairment that follows minor head injury is discussed in relation to diagnostic and intervention issues.

The National Traumatic Coma Data Bank. Part 1: Design, purpose, goals, and results.

This paper describes the pilot phase of the National Traumatic Coma Data Bank, a cooperative effort of six clinical head-injury centers in the United States. Data were collected on 581 hospitalized patients with severe non-penetrating traumatic head injury. Severe head injury was defined on the basis of a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 8 or less following nonsurgical resuscitation or deterioration to a GCS score of 8 or less within 48 hours after head injury. A common data collection protocol, definitions, and data collection instruments were developed and put into use by all centers commencing in June, 1979. Extensive information was collected on pre-hospital, emergency room, intensive care, and recovery phases of patient care. Data were obtained on all patients from the time of injury until the end of the pilot study. The pilot phase of the Data Bank provides data germane to questions of interest to neurosurgeons and to the lay public. Questions are as diverse as: what is the prognosis of severe brain injury; what is the impact of emergency care; and what is the role of rehabilitation in the recovery of the severely head-injured patient?

Epidural Hematoma in Lacrosse.

In brief: Several hours after being hit by a lacrosse stick in the left temporoparietal area slightly anterior to the ear, a lacrosse player was found unresponsive and wrapped in a blanket in his dormitory room. He had not lost consciousness during the game, sat out only five minutes, and completed the game. His Glasgow Coma Scale score was 12 of a possible 15. A CT scan showed an epidural hematoma and a skull fracture. He underwent an immediate left temporoparietal craniotomy and evacuation of the epidural hematoma. He recovered fully and requested permission to return to play six months after the injury. The authors think that an improved lacrosse helmet design would help prevent this type of injury.

Moderate head injury: completing the clinical spectrum of brain trauma.

We have divided head injury into three categories based on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) (severe, 3-8; moderate, 9-12; and minor, 13-15). In a previous report, we described significant disability after minor head injury. The present report describes 199 patients with moderate head injury, 159 of whom underwent follow-up examinations at 3 months. In contrast to patients with minor head injury, half as many were students (17%) and twice as many were intoxicated (53%). Seventy-five patients were studied with computed tomographic (CT) scanning; 30% of the scans were negative and 31% showed a space-occupying mass. As reported by Gennarelli et al. in patients with severe head injuries, those with moderate head injury and subdural hematoma had a very poor outcome: 65% died or were severely disabled and none made a good recovery as measured by the Glasgow Outcome Scale. At 3 months, 38% of the moderate head injury patients had made a good recovery compared with 75% of the minor head injury patients. Within the good recovery category, however, there was much disability (headache, 93%; memory difficulties, 90%; difficulties with activities of daily living, 87%), and only 7% of the patients were asymptomatic. The Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery in an unselected subset (n = 32) showed significant deficits on all test measures. Sixty-six per cent of the patients previously employed had not returned to work, compared to 33% of the minor head injury patients. The major predictors of unemployment after minor head injury were premorbid characteristics (age, education, and socio-economic status). In contrast, all predictors in moderate head injury were measures of the severity of injury (length of coma, CT diagnosis, GCS on discharge). We conclude that: (a) moderate head injury, not described previously in the literature, results in mortality and substantial morbidity intermediate between those of severe and minor head injury; (b) unlike minor head injury, the principal predictors of outcome after moderate head injury are measures of the severity of injury; and (c) more attention should be directed to patients with moderate head injury than to those with the most severe injuries, in whom brain damage is probably irreversible and all forms of management have demonstrated little success.

Prognosis in head injury.

The prognosis of head injury when viewed from the perspective of the Glasgow Coma Scale confirms the utility of this measure. In particular, decrease in mortality is associated with an increase in GCS. In addition, the motor score portion of the GCS was of predictive value when taken alone. The outcome of patients in coma (GCS less than 8) was closely related to three preventable or treatable factors, namely, hypoxia, shock, and increased intracranial pressure. These three factors, when considered in combination, powerfully predicted mortality. Of considerable interest was the finding that moderate head injury (GCS 9-12) was associated with a small but perhaps preventable mortality. The morbidity was intermediate between that of severe and minor and was surprisingly high. Minor head injury, while not associated with significant mortality, also resulted in considerable morbidity. Neuropsychological evaluation of the patients and an experimental study suggests that an organic component may be involved even in this group. To deal with head injury, distinctions must be made between grades of severity. The Glasgow Coma Scale is suited for this task. Nonetheless, the recognition of this basic continuity should elicit the further recognition that different health providers may be involved in the case of, say, severe, as opposed to mild, injury, and that different outcome measures are suitable for one group but not another.