Fight Medicine Research Institute

Standardized post-bout head injury assessment

The same examination after every bout, in every venue, with the findings written down. A fighter’s care should not depend on who happens to be working that night.

A priority states what Fight Medicine Research Institute wants answered and why. It is not a study, a finding or a recommendation. Any study must first pass scientific review and independent ethics review under policy R-01.

Why it matters

A head injury is not always visible when the bout ends. Fight Medicine Research Institute’s aim is an examination that is done the same way after every bout and recorded, so the fighter, the next clinician and the commission all work from the same facts.

A screening tool has to earn that role. It must be tested in fighters, by the people who will use it, in the places where bouts are held.

Research questions

  • Which examination items can be done reliably at ringside in the few minutes after a bout?
  • How well does a post-bout screen identify the fighters who are later diagnosed with a concussion?
  • Do different examiners reach the same result on the same fighter?
  • What should happen to the fighter after an abnormal screen, and after a normal one?

In the research library

The library holds 6 records on this priority. Two are consensus statements. Two are surveys of what athletes know about concussion and whether they would report one. One compares two screening tests given to MMA athletes before and after a match. One is a related-party preprint describing an instrument that has not been validated.