TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI)
- CLOSED HEAD INJURY
Causes of Head
Injuries - Traumatic Brain Injuries
Brain and head injuries can occur
almost anywhere. Traumatic brain injury by it's own wording is caused by a
trauma.Tramatic brain injury (TBI) most often occur in auto wrecks, many
types of falls, ejection from a vehicle at high speeds, roof crush or roof
collapse in a rollover, objects falling and striking the person, impacts of a
child's head onto a floor or in vehicles interior during collision, motorcycle
accidents even with a helmet, from violent explosions and many other
situations both industrial and residential.
Injuries involving some type of
blow or striking of one's head are among the most common in our
society. Some 700,000 people in North America suffer
traumatic head injuries each year, and about 10-15 % are left permanently
disabled. Head injuries can range from relatively minor damage to the scalp
and face such as lacerations, abrasions and bruising to more serious
consequences involving damage to the brain, brain stem injuries, frontal lobe
brain injury, anoxic brain injury and other closed head injury
complications. While traumatic brain injury occurs much less frequently, it is
important to know how it is identified and what to do for the person.
Loss of consciousness, even for a very brief
period, is one of the clearest indications that the brain may have been
affected by a blow to the head. A confusional state involving uncertainty
about time, date, and location and/or a period of memory loss for the events
surrounding the head injury are also indicators of trauma to the brain. Any of
these symptoms following a blow to the head should be taken seriously.
Traumatic brain injury is a
serious and debilitating injury. Persons with a severe brain injury often have
problems with mental and physical functioning, and may require on-going
supervision and assistance, as a result of post concussion syndrome. Even a
person who has suffered a head or brain injury, with little or no documented
loss of consciousness, may have permanent deficits which make it impossible
for them to return to their previous lifestyle and sphere of activities.
Types of Head Injuries
Brain injuries arise from three characteristics
of this brain-skull anatomy: the rigidity and internal contours of the skull,
the incompressibility of brain tissue and the susceptibility of the brain to
shearing forces.
The first two characteristics give rise to
contusions or hematomas (i.e., bleeding) on the surface of the brain, one of
the most common injuries. There are usually two contusion sites in a brain
injury. One occurs at the site of the blow to the brain and is called the coup
injury. The other arises where the brain bounces off the skull when it has
been moved away from the site of the original blow. The contusion here is
termed the contre coup injury. Some bleeding may also arise at the suture
points when the dura mater is torn away from the inside of the skull.
The third characteristic, susceptibility to
shearing forces, plays a role primarily in injuries which involve rapid and
forceful movements of the head, such as in motor vehicle accidents. In these
situations rotational forces such as might occur in whiplash-type injuries are
particularly important. These forces, associated with the rapid acceleration
and deceleration of the head, are smallest at the point of rotation of the
brain near the lower end of the brain stem and successively increase at
increasing distances from this point. The resulting shearing forces cause
different levels in the brain to move relative to one another. This movement
produces stretching and tearing of axons (diffuse axonal injury) and the
insulating myelin sheath, injuries which are the major cause of loss of
consciousness in a head trauma. Small blood vessels are also damaged causing
bleeding (petechial hemorrhages) deep within the brain.
Collectively these injuries can result in
swelling of the brain. If the pressure within the skull is not relieved
through surgery, cooling or medication, the brain will gradually be pushed
down through the opening at the base of the skull, the foramen magnum. Nuclei
in the brain stem controlling breathing and cardiac function will eventually
be compressed resulting in death.
Brain Injuries - Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuit
While not all head injuries are severe and life
threatening, a person still should talk with medical specialist and determine
the full extent of their head injury. Often one may only experience a
few head injury symptoms, but after a full array of medical testing the
extent of a traumatic brain injury can be determined. Due
to the nature of the loss and the expenses of medical care for a head
injury patient, families of head injury patients must seek redress and
monetary recovery in the courts from the negligence party that
caused the injuries. In a lawsuit involving a traumatic brain injury,
the brain injury lawyer will seek to recover:
Pain and Suffering;
Compensation for mental anguish;
Loss of past and future income;
Medical expenses for the past and for the
future;
Nursing Care & Rehabilitation in past & future
Loss of the enjoyment of life;
Physical Disfigurement;
Physical Impairment;
