How Long Might Symptoms Persist After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury?

Longer than 5 years in some patients, but you won’t learn which ones or why by reading this article

These investigators posed a question: Did their patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) have more symptoms of postconcussive syndrome (PCS) than a matched control group? They defined MTBI as initial Glasgow Coma Scale score of 14 (7 patients) or 15 (21 patients). They recruited subjects from a larger cohort study who were assessed for postacute PCS 5 to 7 years earlier and matched them with 27 randomly identified population controls. A mail solicitation was returned by 31% of patients and 27% of randomly identified potential controls. Measures were a PCS questionnaire, a five-part quality-of-life survey, a general health rating, and Glasgow Coma Scale score; the researchers also looked at possible risk factors enumerated in the ear…

Reviewing Author

Michael P. Alexander, MD