Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can severely and permanently change life for a victim and a victim's family. TBI is sudden brain damage caused by brain tissue penetration by an object, blunt force head trauma, or a violent shake of the head (whiplash). Traumatic brain injury symptoms include dizziness, blurred vision, loss of consciousness, memory loss, seizures, coma, and paralysis.

Traumatic Brain Injury Causes

Any head trauma can cause mild (concussion), moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury. Common traumatic brain injury causes include:

Traumatic Brain Injury Brain Damage

Traumatic brain injury is non-congenital brain damage that is either diffuse or focal. Diffuse brain injury occurs throughout several brain areas. Diffuse brain damage can be caused when the head is violently shaken back and forth, which causes the brain to rub against the rough ridges inside the skull. Diffuse brain damage destroys and shears nerve fibers, preventing areas of the brain from communicating to carry out brain functions.

Focal brain injury occurs in one specific brain area. Focal brain damage may be caused when an object, like a bullet, penetrates skull and brain tissue.

Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

A traumatic brain injury victim is treated at a hospital. Traumatic brain injury treatment involves maintaining a person's vital signs (pulse, breathing rate, blood flow) and treating open wounds from open head injury or visible head injury and body injury. Severe head injury or closed head injury victims may need surgeries or other procedures to minimize brain damage. Doctors also perform neurological evaluation to examine a victim's head and brain. To do so, doctors use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Computed tomography (CT) scans, or x-rays identify skull fracture or bleeding in the brain or skull.

Neurological evaluation also helps determine a person's level of consciousness. A person's level of consciousness can identify the severity of brain damage. Doctors ask a person for his or her name, the President's name, and the current calendar date to evaluate if a person is conscious and aware. The Glasgow Coma Scale or the Rancho Los Amigos Coma Scale is also used to assess a person's level of consciousness.

After treatment, a person is monitored for complications. Traumatic Brain injury complications include memory, loss, and problems with thinking, reasoning, hearing, personality, insomnia, and headache. More severe complications include bleeding in the head (hematoma), paralysis, epilepsy, coma, and death.

Rehabilitation is a crucial component to traumatic brain injury recovery and treatment. Rehabilitation involves recovering lost brain functions and helping a person to learn to compensate for brain functions that can not be restored. Rehabilitation also works to minimize or prevent traumatic brain injury complications.

Traumatic Brain Injury – Legal Help

In some cases, traumatic brain injury is caused by the negligence of some other legally responsible party. For example, thousands of people sustain brain injuries every year due to car accidents caused by negligent drivers. In these and many other cases, victims of brain injury might be able to obtain compensation for their physical, emotional and financial damages through personal injury litigation. If your loved one has suffered traumatic brain injury and you suspect negligence, contact an experienced personal injury lawyer. He or she will carefully evaluate your case in order to recommend the best course of action. A personal injury attorney might file a lawsuit on your behalf or carry out negotiations with the responsible party in order to maximize compensation.

For more comprehensive information about traumatic brain injury, visit AllAboutTBI.com.






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