Premiership Rugby to trial pitch-side saliva testing to diagnose concussion and brain injuries

It could eventually lead to handheld devices to determine the extent of head injuries

Jack Austin
Wednesday 30 August 2017 15:01 BST
Comments
The current Head Injury Assessment protocol will remain in place
The current Head Injury Assessment protocol will remain in place (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Concussion protocols in the Premiership and Championship will be overhauled this season as players will take part in new pitch-side tests, including giving samples, to help diagnose brain injuries.

Players will provide urine samples, as well as saliva samples, during the new campaign, after studies showed that they could prove a speedier indicator of head injuries.

During matches, players with confirmed or suspected concussion will provide saliva samples immediately following the injury at pitch-side and will provide follow-up samples as they complete the return-to-play protocol in the week after.

These samples will be compared to those from players who were involved in the same game but did not suffer head injuries, as well as samples from those who suffered other, non-head injuries.

“We are keen to give it our full support,” Premiership Rugby's Corin Palmer said.

The current Head Injury Assessments will continue to be used throughout the season but if the trial is successful, it could eventually lead to handheld devices to use in-game to assess whether the player is fit to play on.

The study is being carried out by the University of Birmingham, the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association.

“The University of Birmingham recently made a significant breakthrough after identifying molecules, which can be found in saliva and act as biomarkers to indicate whether the brain has suffered injury,” said Neurosurgeon professor Tony Belli, who is leading the study.


George North has been involved in a number of controversial concussion incidents during his career 

 George North has been involved in a number of controversial concussion incidents during his career 
 (Getty Images)

“If these biomarkers are found reliable, we can continue our work with industrial partners with the hope to have a device available within the next two years that will instantaneously diagnose concussion on the pitch-side with the same accuracy as in the laboratory - a major step forward for both sport and medicine.”

Dr Simon Kemp, the RFU's chief medical officer, added: “This is an important addition to the breadth of research we are undertaking into concussion.

“There is currently no reliable or proven biomarker or objective test for the diagnosis of concussion and this lack of objectivity is the biggest challenge facing medical professional in dealing with this type of injury.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in