The Concussion Blog

It looked as though many of you enjoyed my ramblings about Friday nights here in Cornville.  So why not do it again.

Last week the team took one on the chin 40-0, although it was 14-0 for all but 2:30 to go in the first half.  Both my student and I were enjoying a relatively calm evening on the injury front, just some minor blood issues.  That was until late in the 3rd when we had a lower extremity injury occur.

It looked innocuous at the time, sluggish getting up off the deck and limping a bit, but he continued on for a series or two (tough to remember).  Finally he was extremely hampered by the injury and was summoned to the sideline for evaluation.

Upon inspection things looked normal, but he was limited in range of motion and weight-bearing.  Then came the palpitation of the affected area, and boy was he not happy.  The slightest pressure caused him some serious pain, and this kid a “farm boy” with high pain tolerance.  Even passive range of motion caused some pain in the area, which is of concern.  Then came the “squeeze” test and no pain elicited, then the “bump” test.  I tell you what, there are times when I am fearful of my safety, one of which is when a big strong boy is in pain and you (meaning me) did it, and I was nervous as the first thing I noticed was a jolt and a clenched fist.

Bad sign and the evaluation ended there as doing other special tests would only make it worse, so parent was notified and arrangements were made for him to go to the ER for an x-ray.  Which, made it three-for-three in games and trips to the ER for me and someone on my team.

The good news is that the films were read that night by “NighHawk” (a system that allows Radiologists from across the globe to read the films during their normal working day) and negative for acute fracture, but the pain was tremendous for the kid.  After the visit by the Pyhsician’s Assistant some anti-inflamatories were Rx’ed along with some good ol’ R&R.  Needless to say the kid is going to be a “go” tonight, but will be limited due to pain and range of motion issues.

So, at least for tonight I will be looking for something in particular, his injury, but again I will be on the look out for anything.  Crossing our fingers that it’s not our turn for concussions yet.

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