Brain Injuries: New Study Finds Fewer People Recover From Post-Concussive Syndrome

The April 2017 issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma reports on a new study about post-concussion syndrome.

The study followed 110 patients who had post-concussive syndrome symptoms for more than three months, and the findings were stunning.  Of those patients, only 27% made a full recovery.  Of the 27% who made a recovery, 67% made a recovery within the first year.  And no one who had symptoms over three years ever made a complete recovery.

For those groups that didn’t recover, the continuing symptoms (in order of frequency) were:

• Headache
• Difficulty concentrating
• Fatigue
• Dazed/don’t feel right/in a fog
• Pressure in the head
• Sensitivity to light
• Difficulty remembering events
• Neck pain
• Sensitivity to noise
• Depression/sadness
• Insomnia/sleep disturbance
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Frustration
• Feeling slowed down
• Noise in the ears
• Vision changes
• Lightheadedness
• Imbalance
• More emotional
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Increased sensitivity to alcohol
• Confusion
• Personality changes
• Vivid dreams
• Numbness
• Vertigo
• Panic attacks
• Disorientation
• Stomach ache
• Loss of appetite
• Slurred speech
• Seizures
• Vomiting

These findings are significant to our brain injury cases.

Most insurance companies argue that brain injuries typically heal themselves and symptoms disappear after six months or a year. The insurance companies use that argument to reduce the value of the claim.

This study refutes that.  If a client has had symptoms lasting more than three months, then this study is evidence that the client will likely never make a full recovery.   Obviously, if an injury is permanent then the value of the case is higher.

The study is also interesting because it has a good list of symptoms of a brain injury.  It’s important for people to know these symptoms to help them recognize when they might have a brain injury.

Another interesting fact was the distribution of the symptoms.  Generally, post concussion syndrome has three classes of symptoms:

1. Cognitive symptoms — affect your thinking
2. Affective symptoms — affect your mood (depression, irritability, etc)
3. Somatic symptoms — separate symptoms (headaches, light sensitivity, etc).

The study found that the persisting symptoms were quite evenly distributed between the three classes of symptoms.