Head injuries are often difficult to diagnose, especially when the injury isn't too severe. Currently, diagnosing a concussion involves a good bit of guess work and a possibly the results of imaging scans. In some cases, the imaging scans don't show anything amiss even when there is a brain injury present. A recent study published in JAMA Neurology shows promising results for a blood test that was studied to help diagnose concussions.

The study was done on 584 people who presented at a Level 1 trauma center with injuries. Around half of the participants had a brain injury like a mild concussion and the other half had other injuries, including chest trauma or broken bones. The participants all had their blood drawn 19 times with the first draw being within four hours after the injury occurred. The remaining draws occurred within the seven days after the injury.

In all of the brain injury cases, two protein levels were significantly higher than in the cases that didn't involve brain injuries. The level of these one protein, GFAP, peaked at 20 hours post-injury before beginning to decrease over the following 7 days. The other protein, UCH-L1, rose immediately after the injury and peaked at eight hours after the injury.

If this blood test becomes part of the main diagnostic protocol for people who suffer head trauma, there is a chance that unnecessary diagnostic imaging tests, such as CT scans, can be avoided. For now, patients who suffer head trauma will have to rely on doctors using the current protocol for diagnosing concussions. In some cases, such as when the head trauma was the result of an accident caused by negligence, the victim might choose to seek compensation to help cover the medical and other expenses resulting from the injury.

Source: Time, " This New Blood Test Could Detect Concussions ," Alice Park, March 28, 2016