A Test Panel to Assess and Document an Absence of Concussive Signs for Sports Related Concussion

As sports-related concussions gain notoriety, legislation has also increased, placing greater liability on athletic trainers, who are typically the first to assess mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This has led to an increase in assessments for documenting an absence of or evidence of an mTBI. Although, their validationand standardization have been called into scrutiny. The purpose of this report is to develop and validate a neurologic test that provides objective evidence useful for documenting an absence of suspicious injury. In this retrospective cohort study, 26 athletes from the University of Cincinnati who incurred a suspicious concussive impact were evaluated using this assessment battery. Of the 26 athletes, 7 were found to have a suspicious injury and referred to a specialist for further work-up. All 7 were eventually diagnosed with a concussion. Nineteen were found to have an absence of suspicious injury, none of which developed delayed concussive symptoms.