CASE STUDY: Siyan
2.
On Sunday, February 20th, 2020, Siyan sustained a mild traumatic brain injury while skating with their friends. They fell forward and hit the side of their head on the ice. No loss of consciousness and Siyan could remember all details of the incident.
Siyan never skated before as they lived in India until 2 years ago. They didn’t have a helmet on because none of her friends were wearing one and it didn’t look good. Although Siyan had some nausea, a mild headache and some sensitivity to noise, they continued for a few days as normal, playing piano, singing, recording tiktoks, soccer, school, band practice, hanging out with friends at the mall and going to the movies. After 3 days, Siyan developed difficulties with concentrating and attending to course lectures and to their teachers. They had difficulty playing piano due to feeling distracted by the other noises. They also had difficulty staying on-task, easily getting distracted by others and became irritable with the noises in the classroom. Siyan had been feeling increasingly nauseous and had a severe headache.
Prior to this head injury, Siyan was a A+ student. Siyan is a 17 year old music artist who has been singing and playing piano since the age of 3. They also are the captain of their soccer team. Siyan had an important soccer game on Thursday, in which they really wanted to play well and the team could make the play offs. Siyan also had a concert at the end of the week in which she was the lead singer.
As Siyan was getting ready for band practice, their music teacher overheard Siyan’s friends talking about their weekend and the concussion that Siyan sustained. The teacher informed Siyan that a concussion is serious and Siyan would need to take some time off. The teacher felt that it would not be a good idea to sing at the concert due to the lights and noise. The teacher also informed the soccer coach about Siyan’s concussion, who pulled Siyan from the season opener.
Siyan became upset yelling ‘What’s the big deal? Football players get to play all the time with concussions.’ Siyan’s coach ignored the question and informed Siyan that it would be at least 2 weeks before they could play again. Siyan was so upset that they threw their water bottle at the coach, which resulted in them being removed from the team for the season.
Siyan continues to have difficulty focusing in school and has started to fail some courses. Siyan feels that if they can’t play sports or sing, there is no point in working towards something else. Siyan’s teachers have noticed that they are less social with friends, increasingly disruptive, and sleeps often while in class. Siyan’s parents have noticed that they have little appetite and mainly stays in their room.
(Concussions, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Return to Work or Play, ACT)
Traumatic brain injuries occur more often in adolescents and young adults. [13] Use academic references to support your thoughts.
1. Describe the epidemiology of traumatic brain injuries across the lifespan.
2. Why are males(18-25) at most risk for sustaining a brain injury?
Males are at most risk of sustaining a brain injury becuase
3. Research the occurrence of concussions within soccer. Is this a problem?
4. How do concussions result in injury to the brain? Explain the mechanisms/ structures involved in the brain
