Padres Allen Córdoba still sidelined by ‘unusual’ concussion

That Padres infielder Allen Córdoba is still experiencing concussion symptoms and has been unable to resume baseball activity six weeks after being injured in an automobile accident is “unusual but not unheard of,” according to a prominent neurologist.

Dr. Vernon Williams, director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, said concussions suffered by athletes generally resolve or at least improve in 10 to 14 days.

However, Williams, who has not examined Córdoba, said the type of concussion Cordoba may have suffered could contribute to the fact he is still experiencing sensitivity to light and other symptoms.

Williams differentiated between the type of “linear impact” that might give a quarterback a concussion when hitting his head on the turf or a batter might sustain from a fastball to the helmet, and the “rotational impact” that occurs when a boxer is hit with a right hook or the occupant of a car might incur in a collision.

“Those rotational impacts may be more problematic than that direct in-line linear impacts,” Williams said. “Sometimes we see more severe symptoms and more prolonged symptoms.”

Córdoba, 22, was a Rule 5 draft pick who spent last season with the Padres. While he is in major league camp as a member of the 40-man roster, Córdoba had never played above rookie ball before 2017 and was slated for a return to the minors this year.

He was involved Feb. 7 in an automobile accident in his native Panama, and he has not participated in any baseball activities since arriving in Arizona.

“He’s not getting better at all,” Padres manager Andy Green said Tuesday afternoon. “He’s had a really rough go. I don’t have any idea how long that’s going to take. … There’s a lot of symptoms he’s still going through. They cleared him to walk outside last week, and it did not go well. He’s kind of back to square one, and square one is minimal activity. This does not look like it’s resolving any time soon.”

Williams said the treatment for visual symptoms is an “aggressive” approach with visual therapy that involves tracking objects and tolerating visual backgrounds and could include prescribing lenses to help differentiate light.

“Baseball, in particular, there is a significant stress on the nervous system associated with tracking balls, especially at that speed,” Williams said. “Also just tracking a ball as you’re fielding. The visual system is really stressed in a game like baseball.”

Williams said symptoms should resolve with treatment and/or time.

“Duration is extremely variable,” he said. “(It) can be different for different people. Sometimes (there is) rapid improvement once the right therapy is initiated; oother times (it is) slow, gradual resolution.”

kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com