Concussion or mild traumatic brain injury from a forensic medical point of view

Summary

The forensic physician is often faced with the diagnosis of concussion or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The earlier concept of cerebral concussion as a functional and fully reversible clinical entity must be considered obsolete, as concussion can lead to demonstrable structural changes in the brain. It is therefore recommended that the use of the term ‘concussion’ be abandoned as soon as possible. However, as these terms are still used in clinical practice in many places and there is no clear criterion to distinguish concussion from mTBI, it is pragmatic to consider these terms as synonyms. The forensic physician typically addresses three issues in the context of mTBI: the diagnosis of the injury, the severity of the injury, and the mechanism and mode of injury. He or she should always consider whether the clinician-diagnosed mTBI actually occurred, and may use consultation with a neurologist to do so. If so, it is always a medical disorder, but it may also be a severe injury. Statistics from the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (IHIS) show that the average period of incapacity for concussion is 39 days for people aged 20-65, which is longer than the previously accepted 2-3 weeks. The average period of incapacity for work for men and women is not statistically different. However, it increases with age, by almost one day for each year of age between 20 and 65 years. Post-concussion syndrome is a relatively common complication of concussion.

Keywords:

mild traumatic brain injury – brain concussion – diagnosis of mTBI – severity of injury from a forensic point of view – postconcussion syndrome