1 Peter C. Fino, 2 P. Gunnar Brolinson, 3Thurmon E. Lockhart, 1Maury A. Nussbaum
1 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA
2 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA, USA
3 Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
email: fino@vt.edu
INTRODUCTION
Typical sports-related concussion? symptoms resolve within 7-10 days post-concussion? [1]. However, use of challenging motor control tasks indicate that deficits can persist beyond this typical timeframe. For example, concussed athletes have increased medio-lateral (ML) sway during dual-task gait up to two months post-concussion? [2]. After being cleared for competition, recently concussed athletes demonstrate greater reorientation variability [3] and greater clearance when circumventing obstacles [4] compared to controls in turning tasks. Other changes to turning mechanics due to concussions and their potential impact on performance and/or injury remain unknown. This study examined turning in recently concussed collegiate athletes and matched controls, after the athletes were cleared to return to play, to examine differences in path curvature and ML inclinations.