Post-concussion syndrome is an aggregate of symptoms that commonly present together after
head injury. These symptoms, depending on definition, include
headaches,
dizziness, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and
cognitive impairment. However, these symptoms are common, occurring frequently in non-head injured controls, leading some to question the existence of
post-concussion syndrome as a unique syndrome. Therefore, some have attempted to explain
post-concussion symptoms as
post-traumatic stress disorder, as they share many similar symptoms and
post-traumatic stress disorder does not require
head injury. This explanation falls short as patients with
post-concussion syndrome do not necessarily experience many key symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, other explanations must be sought to explain the prevalence of post-concussion like symptoms in non-
head injury patients. Many of the situations in which
post-concussion syndrome like symptoms may be experienced such as
infection and post-surgery are associated with systemic inflammatory responses, and even
neuroinflammation.
Post-concussion syndrome itself has a significant neuroinflammatory component. In this review we examine the evidence of
neuroinflammation in
post-concussion syndrome and the potential role systemic
inflammation plays in
post-concussion syndrome like symptoms. We conclude that given the overlap between these conditions and the role of
inflammation in their etiologies, a new term, post-inflammatory brain syndromes (
PIBS), is necessary to describe the common outcomes of many different inflammatory insults. The concept of
post-concussion syndrome is in its evolution therefore, the new term post-inflammatory brain syndromes provides a better understanding of etiology of its wide-array of symptoms and the wide array of conditions they can be seen in.