Traumatic Brain Injury
Traumatic brain injury is non-congenital brain damage caused by a blow to the head, a violent shake of the head, or a penetration of brain tissue by an object like a bullet. Traumatic brain injury can cause long-term problems with memory, thinking, emotions, personality. Traumatic brain injury can also cause paralysis, coma, and death.
Traumatic Brain Injury vs. Head Injury
Traumatic brain injury is often confused with head injury. Head injury is a term that describes any injury to the head which may or may not injure the brain. Head injury is either open or closed. Open head injury occurs when the skull is fractured. Closed head injury does not fracture the skull. Closed head injury brain damage can be caused by rapid acceleration/deceleration of the head (whiplash) or other violent forces which do not facture the skull.
Traumatic brain injury occurs when open or closed head injury causes brain damage. Open head injury can cause brain damage, as a fractured skull can no longer protect the brain from the environment, objects, and infectious viruses and bacteria.
Closed head injury can cause brain damage when the brain collides with the inside of the boney skull shearing nerve fibers. Moreover, as an injured brain swells, pressure rapidly builds inside the skull. With no fracture or opening through which the pressure may escape, brain tissue is destroyed.
Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms
Traumatic brain injury symptoms are mild, moderate, or severe. People with concussion or mild brain injury may have subtle symptoms that go unnoticed or undiagnosed. Individuals with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion may or may not lose consciousness.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms
- Headache
- Nausea
- Temporary memory loss
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Depression
Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury symptoms are more pronounced.
Moderate to Severe Brain Injury Symptoms
- Migraine
- Vomiting or nausea
- Paralysis
- Slurred Speech
- Dilated pupils
- Seizures
- Problems breathing
- Loss of consciousness (more than 30 minutes)
Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment
A person with traumatic brain injury symptoms should be taken to a hospital. Once at a hospital, a head trauma victim is treated to regulate his or pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure. Open wounds or visible head and bodily injuries are also treated.
After a person is stabilized, doctors perform neurological evaluation to examine a person's brain and head. Neurological evaluation involves use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scans, or other x-rays, to identify bleeding in the brain or skull and skull fracture.
Neurological evaluation also identifies a person's level of consciousness. A person's level of consciousness helps determine the severity of brain damage. During neurological evaluation, doctors ask a patient for his or her name, the current calendar date, or other simple questions to determine if a person is awake and aware. Doctors also use the Ranchos Los Amigos Coma Scale or the Glasgow Coma Scale to assess a traumatic brain injury victim's level of consciousness.
Traumatic brain injury victims may have complications including migraine, memory loss, problems with thinking, emotions, personality, hearing, seeing, and insomnia. More severe traumatic brain injury complications include bleeding in the brain or head (hematoma), epilepsy or seizures, paralysis, coma, and death.
Traumatic brain injury victims may need extensive and expensive rehabilitation to recover from the brain injury and to restore or compensate for lost brain functions.
For more comprehensive information about traumatic brain injury, visit AllAboutTBI.com.