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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Lawyers
Approximately 1.5 million people suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the U.S. each year.
About 50,000 die and 85,000 suffer long-term disabilities from TBI each year. Among the top causes
of TBI are motor vehicle accidents and falls.
TBI is unlike other traumatic injuries in many respects. Recovery is functional in nature and
depends on mechanisms that are uncertain. Each brain injury is unique, symptoms may appear days or
weeks after the injury, and often the victim is not even aware that a brain injury has taken
place.
- MTBI: If the duration of the loss of consciousness or disorientation
was less than 30 minutes, it is generally considered “mild.”
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- In such cases, a CAT scan or MRI may appear normal, but the victim often
exhibits cognitive difficulties such as memory problems, attention deficits,
difficulty thinking, headaches, mood swings, and overall frustration.
- TBI: If was loss of consciousness for longer than 30 minutes, the
victim has likely suffered severe brain injury.
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- The resulting difficulties range from diminishment of higher-level cognitive
functions to comas.
- The victim may lose the ability to think, speak, the ability to move arms and
legs, or have emotional problems.
- Long-term rehabilitation will usually be necessary, and as with both mild and
severe cases, there will often be a dramatic impact on the victim's family, job,
and community.
The leading types of TBI are the following:
- Closed head injury
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- caused by direct or indirect, rotational or deceleration force to the head. The
skull remains intact and is not penetrated.
- Open head injury
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- direct injury to the head with penetration of the skull
- Diffuse axonal injury
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- axons make up the white matter in the brain. They project from the brain's
nerve cells and attach to other nerve cells.
- In motor vehicle accidents and shaking incidents, the rotational forces or
rapid deceleration can shear the axons and disrupt them.
- Contusion
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- a bruise to part of the brain
- Penetrating trauma
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- skull fragments or other objects that enter the brain
- Secondary injury
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- swelling of the brain in which the cerebrospinal fluid does not drain out of
the skull, causing further intracranial pressure and brain damage.
- If not controlled, the brain can actually herniate, or push through, the base
of the skull.
- Acquired brain injury
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- injuries other than congenital, hereditary, birth trauma, or degenerative.
- Causes include drugs and poisoning.
- Non-traumatic instances (not considered TBI) include hypoxia and anoxia, which
are insufficient and lack of oxygen to the brain, often caused by breathing
problems, cardiac arrest, or bleeding.
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- Drowning or suffocation are examples in which there is lack of
oxygen to the brain.
If you or loved one has been the victim of a traumatic brain injury, then please contact our experienced personal injury attorneys to evaluate, confidentially,
your brain injury claim.
After discussing your circumstances, we will be in a position to advise whether a brain injury
lawsuit or other legal action is warranted.
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