Abstract Details

Title Rehabilitation of Persistent Symptoms and Neurocognitive Deficits following Sports-Related Concussion in a Professional Hockey Player: Case Study

Topic Concussion Management

Presentation(s) P1 - Poster Session 1 (7:00 AM-3:15 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 026

Background

Hockey is one of the top three sports in which concussions occur and has one of the top 10 highest participation numbers of sports in the northern hemisphere. The investigation of treatment modalities is warranted given the prevalence of hockey throughout society. This case study presents a 31-year-old male professional hockey athlete who had sustained five diagnosed concussions with additional suspected concussions throughout his career. His symptoms remained after independently receiving physical therapy and vestibular rehabilitation, causing an inability to continue playing hockey at a professional level.

Objective

To demonstrate decreased post-concussive symptomatology and neurocognitive improvements in a professional hockey player following a multimodal, functional neurology approach to neurorehabilitation.

Design/Methods The patient was prescribed ten treatment sessions over five contiguous days at an outpatient neurorehabilitation center specializing in functional neurology. The C3Logix neurocognitive assessment and graded symptom checklist were utilized at intake and discharge. Multimodal treatment interventions included transcranial photobiomodulation, non-invasive neuromodulation of the lingual branch of the trigeminal nerve, hand-eye coordination training, vestibular rehabilitation utilizing a three-axis whole-body off-axis rotational device, and cognitive training.

Results On intake, their composite symptom score was reported as 16/162, Trail Making Test Part B was 24.1 seconds, Simple Reaction Time was 274 milliseconds, and Choice Reaction Time was 496 milliseconds. On discharge, the patient experienced an 81% in self-reported symptoms, Trail Making Test Part B improved to 17 seconds (+29.46%), Simple Reaction Time was 252 milliseconds (8% faster), and Choice Reaction Time was 465 milliseconds (24% faster)

Conclusions The present case study results demonstrated meaningful improvements in both self-rated concussion symptoms and neurocognitive performance for this patient. The Press suggest further investigation into functional neurology-based, multimodal, intensive approaches to decrease chronic post-concussion symptoms and improve neurocognitive performance in athletes that engage in hockey.

Authors/Disclosures
PRESENTER	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Matthew Antonucci, DC, DACNB, FACFN (NeuroSynergy Associates)	Dr. Antonucci has received stock or an ownership interest from TBIC, Inc. An immediate family member of Dr. Antonucci has received stock or an ownership interest from Carrick Institute.