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Levels of Brain Injury
The manner in which someone sustained a brain injury, the severity of that injury, and the location of that injury determine possible complications and the required treatments. To understand a personal injury case involving brain injury, you should know the levels of severity of brain injuries and the types of brain injuries.
Levels of TBI’s
Each type of brain injury has three basic levels. These include:
Mild injury
Losing consciousness is a characteristic of a mild TBI. However, some people experience disorientation or confusion and do not lose consciousness. Mild TBIs are hard to diagnose which mean doctors need to do close examination of the victim. The reason for this is that mild TBIs may bring back normal brain imaging results.
Moderate injury
Moderate TBI is characterized by loss of consciousness that may last for 1 to 24 hours. A patient may also experience post-traumatic amnesia for 1 to 24 hours of the TBI. The brain imaging results and tests show that the brain was injured.
Severe injury
Here the victim may lose consciousness or go into a coma for 24 hours. The victim’s post-traumatic amnesia can last for more than 24 hours after the injury. In this case, the tests or imaging results will show the brain was injured.
Types of brain injuries
In case you or a loved one has sustained a blow to the head, seek immediate medical attention. Only medical professional have the necessary tools to diagnose TBIs. You cannot diagnose a TBI based on the severity of the blow and the symptoms that follow. The most common types of traumatic brain injuries are:
Concussions
It is sometimes called a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and is often caused by a sudden blow to the head. A concussion shakes the brain in the direction of the blow and has symptoms such as headaches, disorientation, memory loss and more. Concussions should be considered as serious injuries because they can cause life-long damages especially if the victims experience them multiple times.
Contusions
Brain contusions usually occur together with concussions. A contusion is a bruise of the brain tissue caused by breaking or leaking of small blood vessels. Sometimes a brain contusion cannot stop bleeding on its own and has to be removed surgically. This type of injury can occur in a motor vehicle crash where the head moves forward with great force then suddenly moves back.
Penetrating injury
When an object pierces through the skull, a penetrating brain injury occurs. Victims are very likely to die from such injuries if not promptly treated because of severe bleeding, blood clots, and low oxygen supply to various brain regions. Such injuries are often caused by high velocity objects such as bullets or fragments, or low velocity objects like knives and bone fragments. The injuries can also happen because of a slip and fall accident or a motor vehicle accident.
Do not assume that your brain injury is minor because there are no symptoms. Sometimes symptoms can take a long time to manifest. Get yourself evaluated by a doctor so that any injury can be treated before it causes more damage to your brain.