A blood test known as the Brain Trauma Indicator was approved in the United States in 2018 and may be able to rule out the risk of intracranial bleeding and thus the need for a CT scan for adults.Concussion may be under-diagnosed because of the lack of the highly noticeable signs and symptoms while athletes may minimize their injuries to remain in the competition. Direct impact to the head is not required for a concussion diagnosis, as other bodily impacts with a subsequent force transmission to the head are also causes. A retrospective survey in 2005 suggested that more than 88% of concussions are unrecognized. Particularly, many younger athletes struggle with identifying their concussions, which often result in the non-disclosure of concussions and consequently under-representing the incidence of concussions in the context of sport.Diagnosis can be complex because concussion shares symptoms with other conditions. For example, post-concussion symptoms such as cognitive problems may be misattributed to brain injury when, in fact, due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).There are no fluid biomarkers (i.e., blood or urine tests) that are validated for diagnosing concussion in children or adolescents. Classification
No single definition of concussion, minor head injury, or mild traumatic brain injury is universally accepted. In 2001, the expert Concussion in Sport Group of the first International Symposium on Concussion in Sport defined concussion as "a complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by traumatic biomechanical forces."
Other mTBI symptoms include changes in sleeping patterns and difficulty with reasoning, concentrating, and performing everyday activities.A concussion can result in changes in mood including crankiness, loss of interest in favorite activities or items, tearfulness, and displays of emotion that are inappropriate to the situation. Common symptoms in concussed children include restlessness, lethargy, and irritability. Mechanism
Forces
The brain is surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid, which protects it from light trauma. More severe impacts, or the forces associated with rapid acceleration, may not be absorbed by this cushion. Concussions, and other head-related injuries, occur when external forces acting on the head are transferred to the brain. Such forces can occur when the head is struck by an object or surface (a direct impact), or when the torso rapidly changes position (i.e. from a body check) and force is transmitted to the head (an indirect impact).Forces may cause linear, rotational, or angular movement of the brain or a combination of them. In rotational movement, the head turns around its center of gravity and in angular movement, it turns on an axis, not through its center of gravity. The amount of rotational force is thought to be the major component in concussion and its severity.