Also refered to as: craniocerebral trauma
ACCORDING TO THE CDC YOU NEED TO CALL 911 OR GET TAKEN TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM IF YOU:
- Have a headache that gets worse and does not go away
- Experience weakness, numbness, decreased coordination, convulsions, or seizures
- Vomit repeatedly
- Have slurred speech or unusual behavior
- Have one pupil (the black part in the middle of the eye) larger than the other
- Cannot recognize people or places, get confused, restless, or agitated
- Lose consciousness, look very drowsy or cannot wake up
WHAT IS TRUAMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI)?
Traumatic brain injury is a sudden injury like those seen in the illustration. It may happen through a penetrating injury like a bullet, a blunt impact, accelerating or decelerating force, and a blast wave. A TBI may also occur after a blow, bump, or jolt to the head. TBI happens when a sudden injury causes damage to the brain.
3 MAIN TYPES OF TBI: mild tbi or concussion, moderate tbi, and severe tbi
MILD TBI OR CONCUSSION
A mild TBI or concussion is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head. It can also be caused by a hit in the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth. The brain may bounce around or twist in the skull as a result of this movement. It can also induce chemical changes in the brain, as well as brain cell stretching or destruction. Symptoms of these brain changes include changes in how a person thinks, learns, feels, acts, and sleeps.
MODERATE AND SEVERE TBI
Various factors can trigger both moderate and severe injuries. Some of those triggers are concussions, penetrating injuries, a blow to the head, and a bump, blow, or jolt to the head. Sufferers of moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries may experience long-term or even lifelong health problems. These types of TBI can be costly as a person will most likely need ongoing care. In 2010 the lifetime economic cost was estimated to be approximately $76.5 billion, including direct and indirect costs.*1
What is happening to the brain at the point of injury?
Damage occurs when a person suffers a blow to the head that whips the head forward and back or side to side (as in a vehicle accident), forcing the brain to contact the bony skull in which it is housed at high velocity. Damage occurs at (and occasionally opposite) the place of impact, bruising brain tissue and tearing blood vessels, especially where the inside surface of the skull is rough and uneven. As a result, particular parts of the brain are injured, most commonly the frontal and temporal lobes. MRI and CAT scans are frequently used to detect this type of localized injury.
The fast movement of the brain in a closed head injury can strain and destroy neuronal axons, which are the long threadlike arms of nerve cells in the brain that connect cells, connect different brain sections, and connect the brain to the rest of the body. Axonal damage disrupts functional communication within and across brain areas and between the brain and other body parts in some cases. This form of diffuse damage, on the other hand, is often undetectable using current imaging techniques (but with new developments, this may change).On the other hand, its existence is manifested in the pervasive consequences it has on an individual’s ability to function.
The second type of TBI is an open head injury, which occurs when the skull is punctured, such as by a bullet. Damage from open head injuries is typically focused rather than widespread, and the consequences for long-term impairment are generally focal and limited. However, depending on the destructive path of the bullet or other invasive object within the brain, such injuries can be as severe as closed head injuries.
What occurs after a TBI?
Two types of consequences occur immediately after a TBI. To begin, trauma and tissue damage cause a sequence of biochemical and other physiological responses in brain tissue. Substances that were formerly safely stored within cells have suddenly flooded the brain. Secondary cell death occurs when these mechanisms further harm and destroy brain cells.
The individual’s functioning is affected by the second type of the influence. Loss of consciousness (LOC) happens at the time of trauma in those with more severe injuries and can last anywhere from a few minutes to several weeks or even months. Coma is a term used to describe a prolonged LOC. The first few days after a catastrophic injury may result in negative alterations in respiration (breathing) and motor skills.
Below a video is provided explaining concussion/TBI through graphics.
REFERENCES
1.Finkelstein E, Corso P, Miller T and associates. The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York (NY): Oxford University Press; 2006.
2.Fortier, Catherine Brawn et al. “Correspondence of the Boston Assessment of Traumatic Brain Injury-Lifetime (BAT-L) clinical interview and the VA TBI screen.” The Journal of head trauma rehabilitation vol. 30,1 (2015): E1-7. doi:10.1097/HTR.0000000000000008
3.Yengo-Kahn, Aaron M et al. “The cost of a single concussion in American high school football: a retrospective cohort study.” Concussion (London, England) vol. 5,4 CNC81. 28 Oct. 2020, doi:10.2217/cnc-2020-0012
4.Daugherty J, Waltzman D, Sarmiento K, Xu L. Traumatic brain injury–related deaths by race/ethnicity, sex, intent, and mechanism of injury — United States, 2000–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019;68(46):1050-1056.
5.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, June 15). Injury Center. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/injury/.
6.What happens? Headway North London. (n.d.). http://www.headwaynorthlondon.org/what-happens.html.
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