On-Field Performance of National Football League Players After Return From Concussion

Abstract

No difference in player performance after concussion was found whether the player did or did not miss games before return. Return without missing games may be associated with experience and timing of injury within a season and less likely after newer guidelines.

Performance following a first professional concussion among National Basketball Association players

“…Interestingly, studies investigating postconcussion performance of elite Australian Football players [33] and National Football League (NFL) players [32] have both reported results similar to the current study, in that principally no difference from baseline performance existed, speaking to the transient nature of SRC. These previous studies have also suggested that null findings in pre-to post-injury performances likely indicate appropriate medical management [32,33], or the ability of elite athletes to compensate and optimize immediate performance.…”

“…Prior to this study, only three studies have addressed postconcussion performance in elite athletes [21,32,33]. The present study extends the study of postconcussion performance to elite basketball players.…”

“…These previous studies have also suggested that null findings in pre-to post-injury performances likely indicate appropriate medical management [32,33], or the ability of elite athletes to compensate and optimize immediate performance. In contrast to NFL, elite Australian Football and, our present, NBA player data, a recent study of Major League Baseball (MLB) players suggested a decline in performance following concussion [31].…”

“…Third, we were unable to match players on age and experience due to a correlation between likelihood to miss time for non-injury reasons and years of experience or age. Fourth, we relied on publicly available records, as similar studies of professional athletes have done [21,32,33]. Although these records are not medical records, public records (injury reports), are generally regarded as being valid sources of professional sports injury data [41].…”

Cerebral Blood Flow Alterations in Acute Sport-Related Concussion

“…Return-to-play decisions are currently based on clinical judgment that is informed by neurocognitive batteries and selfreport symptom metrics rather than on evidence-based biomarkers. 10,22,39,62 Our study suggests a potential objective marker of physiological recovery indicating that the WoCV has elapsed and the individual is safe to resume activity. 10 Yet to be fully elucidated, there are several possible pathophysiologic mechanisms of decreased CBF after mTBI.…”