Traumatic Brain Injury Overview

Traumatic brain injury is non-congenital brain damage caused by external forces or events such as the head being hit by an object, a violent shake of the head, or penetration of brain tissue by an object. Traumatic brain injury can be mild, moderate, or severe, and a traumatic brain injury victim may have problems with thinking, memory, personality, and emotions. Traumatic brain injury can also cause coma and can be fatal.

Types of Traumatic Brain Injury

Head injury that causes traumatic brain injury is either open or closed. Open head injury refers to skull fracture. Open head injury can expose brain tissue to the environment, inviting viral and bacterial contamination of brain tissue. Objects or skull fragments can also injure the brain and cause brain damage. Closed head injury occurs when the skull is not fractured, but the brain is injured. Closed head brain injury can be caused by intense rotational forces, violent head shaking, or a blunt force which causes the brain to collide with the inside of the skull. Both types of head trauma can cause significant brain damage.

Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms

Traumatic brain injury symptoms include migraine, vomiting or nausea, loss of consciousness, memory loss, slurred speech, dilated pupils, and paralysis. A person with mild traumatic brain injury or concussion may have more subtle symptoms including a brief loss of consciousness (less than 30 minutes), temporary memory loss, headache, and dilated pupils. A person with more moderate to severe traumatic brain injury may have more pronounced symptoms including loss of consciousness (more than 30 minutes), migraine, nausea, vomiting, tremors, seizures, labored breathing, dilated pupils, and paralysis.

Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment

A traumatic brain injury victim should be brought to a hospital emergency room. Hospital emergency staff stabilize a person's vital signs (breathing, blood pressure, and pulse) and treat open wounds or skull fractures.

After a traumatic brain injury victim is stabilized, doctors perform a complete neurological evaluation to assess the severity of brain injury. Doctors use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scans, and other x-rays to identify any internal or non-apparent brain or head injuries such as bleeding and skull fracture.

Doctors will also ask a brain injury victim simple verbal questions to assess the brain injury victim's level of consciousness. A person's level of consciousness can determine the extent of brain injury and what brain functions are impaired. Doctors may ask the patient for his or her name, the current calendar date, or the President's name to assess whether the patient is awake and aware. Doctors also use the Glasgow Coma Scale or the Rancho Los Amigos Scale to assess a person's level of consciousness.

After treatment, a traumatic brain injury victim is closely monitored for complications. Traumatic brain injury complications may be mild, moderate, or severe, and include problems with memory, mobility, emotions, personality, speech, and thinking. More severe brain injury complications include paralysis, seizures, coma, and death.

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