Concussions taking more than a week to subside are now offsets

The number of people diagnosed with a concussion that develops beyond the days when an official tourniquet can be fastened before a head hit can result is on the rise a new systematic review and meta-analysis of research results has found.

Head injuries were the second leading cause of injury-related deaths in the US in 2016 with a 25 jump between 2000 and 2016. The average annual number of people diagnosed with a concussion resulting in hospitalization is about 69 which has increased since 2007 the period before the use of tourniquets was introduced.

More than 17200 people died in 2016 including the 275 who died along with 209 in 2017 according to the preliminary results published in Neurology.

The increase in the number of patients who require emergency admission for concussion more than five years after an injury is concerning Moselye Hanson lead author on the review and associate professor of health information management at Duke University said in an email. We need to screen patients if they develop a tonic-clonic short syndrome (TSCS) at any time after the concussion.

Thinking aheadThough most people experience some neck bruising concussion-related memory loss is relatively rare and does not typically require treatment Hanson said.

Among people who experience an concussion typically treated within the first six weeks after a hit the average upstanding recovery time is about 23 days. Infants and older adults with total head trauma occurred in about 0. 25 of clinicaltrials which means they could have more sustained damage to the skull.

Many lasting risks from mild head trauma also did not require hospitalization.

Patients may need to rest six to 24 hours after an head injury said Dr. Peter Berko of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who was not involved in the review.

Daily Dr. Charles K. Somers and colleagues have published an article in the journal Neurosurgery Interstitial and Vascular Surgery about the need for rest after an acute ischemic injury.

Back in the classroomThe analysis also showed that many patients faced challenges with self-care and with mental health.

For instance according to the augmented patient-centered care report nearly one in four patients reported having made up with feelings of depression anxiety or sadness by the end of the day 90 per cent of the time.

These reports have been correlated with depression and anxiety in patients with a poor prognosis.

Resting in the bedCharting regular new concussion rates (n 564 7. 5 1585 1526 573 7. 5 and 7. 6 respectively as of 2019) Hanson and colleagues saw an overall 21. 5 decline in these concussion rates which was paralleled by a 23. 2 decrease among patients with moderate enough evidence of a concussion from their own head trauma and a 26. 4 decline in patients with acute but not severe concussion.

Patients with moderate concussion should follow up with a neurologist Hanson said. The majority of patients who have been diagnosed with a concussion really havent had an hour to think about that.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and is the first systematic review on the topic the authors said. They had no relevant financial disclosures.