Ethical implications of neuroimaging in sports concussion

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1.6 to 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries that occur each year are related to sports injuries. New research has broadened the understanding of the acute and chronic pathophysiology of concussion associated with brain injury, and recent advances in diagnostic capabilities with neuroimaging are leading to new ethical questions around sport and care of the head-injured athlete. In this review, we synthesize the current literature on neuroimaging for assessing concussed athletes and explore ethical issues in the context of return to play, short- and long-term neurologic health effects following concussion and resource allocation that are emerging with new implications as neurotechnology becomes an increasingly powerful tool on the playing field of health.