ABSTRACT
Concussion is the acute psychological experience of trauma incurred through head impact, acceleration, or both: an alteration or limited loss of consciousness. The postconcussion syndrome (PCS) describes the multiple consequences of mechanical injuries to the brain that frequently result in comorbid traumatic brain injury (TBI) and somatic injuries. Understanding TBI and alterations of consciousness is enhanced by the examiner’s attempted reconstruction of the accident: geometric configuration of the head and body; and the size, direction, and nature of the injuring physical force and surface. PCS is the consequence of a mechanical injury, often ignored by clinicians, or treated without awareness of its wide range of disorders, discomforts and dysfunctions, or chronic outcome. The posttraumatic syndrome may be seen when the posttraumatic examination of the patient as incomplete. An accident victim is examined in the Emergency Department and released without any record to indicate that the head was examined, or whether the physician gave any counseling to the patient or parent.
