All About Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Welcome to All About Traumatic Brain Injury, an online educational resource intended as a comprehensive guide to traumatic brain injury.
Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in children and young adults, with more cases of traumatic brain injury reported than breast cancer cases, HIV/AIDS infections, spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis cases combined. Although it seems like a rare occurrence, statistics like this demonstrate that traumatic brain injury is more prevalent than one would think.
Types of Traumatic Brain Injury
There are two types of brain injury: open and closed head injury. Closed head injury is an injury that does not break the skin, while open head injuries have fractured the skull and/or breached the membranes surrounding the brain.
In addition, doctors have two types of classifications for brain damage from traumatic brain injuries, including focal and diffuse damage. Focal damage is localized to the area of the brain that sustained the injury, while diffuse damage has spread to several areas of the brain.
Diagnosing Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury is one of the most difficult medical conditions to diagnose for doctors. Some patients may sustain severe damage yet do not demonstrate symptoms for days or weeks after the initial injury, while others may be unconscious and unable to describe their symptoms to their doctor. Because of these situations, medical professionals diagnose head injuries using the Glasgow Coma Scale or the Rancho Los Amigos Coma Scale, depending on the physician’s preference.
Traumatic Brain Injury Lawsuits
Some of the most common causes of traumatic brain injuries include car accidents, falls and assaults, which may put another party responsible for the traumatic brain injury if they are found liable for the damage endured. If a person sustains a severe head injury as a result of someone’s negligence, they may be eligible to receive compensation to offset the costs of their medical bills and treatment costs. Many TBI patients and their family members meet with an attorney to review their claim and file a claim against those responsible for the injury.
[Last revision: September 2009]