Health

Traumatic Brain Injury: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

By caringsurgeon | Published 10 June 2022 | No Comments

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when your head suddenly and violently hits an object, like the ground or the steering wheel in a car accident, or when something penetrates your skull and strikes your brain. Any kind of TBI can be life-threatening, and even mild cases can cause long-term cognitive and physical problems. Here’s what you need to know about TBI symptoms, causes, and treatment options.

What is TBI?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious medical condition that occurs when your brain is damaged by a bump, blow or jolt to your head or body. The damage disrupts normal brain function, causing either temporary or permanent problems with memory, physical functioning and behaviour. According to Indian Head Injury Foundation estimates, more than 1 million Indians sustain TBI every year. About 100000 die as a result of their injuries. Approximately 80% of deaths from TBI occur in males under the age of 45 years old. Males are four times more likely than females to sustain a brain injury resulting in death, while females are twice as likely as males to have non-fatal brain injuries. More than half of all TBIs occur among children and adolescents aged 0–19 years. Children ages 0–4 years have a higher rate of traumatic brain injury mortality compared to any other age group. Motor vehicle crashes account for 40% of all TBI-related deaths, followed by falls at 24%. Sports activities cause 10% of all sports-related concussions but only 2% of all sports-related injuries.

Prevalence

Every year in the United States, some 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI). In fact, TBI is so common that it’s a leading cause of death for young adults. These types of injuries can occur from contact sports such as football and basketball, but most often they happen from vehicular accidents. About half of all TBIs are classified as mild while 30 per cent are moderate and 15 percent are severe. Each kind causes distinct symptoms that could become permanent if not treated properly. It’s also important to note that there is no proven way to prevent TBIs except for wearing a seatbelt in a car or helmet while playing sports or riding a motorcycle or bicycle—which may sound obvious but isn’t always practiced consistently.

Mechanism of injury

There are three general types of traumatic brain injury (TBI): closed head injury (CHI), penetrating head injury, and blast injury. For all forms of TBI, a jolt to or bump on the head causes an abrupt acceleration or deceleration of brain tissue within the skull. This sudden movement causes cell death in areas that would normally be cushioned by cerebrospinal fluid; that’s why signs of acute TBI include persistent confusion (the severity depends on which area(s) of your brain have been injured). Of course, there are other symptoms as well—for example, is a common variant known as concussion, your headache may not be so bad but you may experience vomiting or loss of consciousness (possibly due to physical trauma). In any case, if you’re having any sort of headache after a head injury, it’s important to get checked out right away.

Common symptoms

Severe head injuries can cause any number of symptoms. If you or someone you know was in a traumatic brain injury (TBI), he or she may experience any of these problems. The severity of symptoms varies with each case. In general, though, people who have suffered TBI will probably feel one or more of these symptoms immediately after their accident: * Nausea * Blurred vision * Slurred speech * Loss of balance or coordination * Insomnia They may also have some trouble concentrating or focusing their attention. People with TBI may develop additional problems as time goes on, including dizziness; irritability; depression; headaches; fatigue; nausea and vomiting; memory loss; anxiety disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); seizures and tremors. TBIs are usually classified by severity based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores, which measure three aspects of consciousness—eye-opening, verbal response and motor response—on a scale from 3 to 15. A score below 8 indicates severe TBI. A score between 8 and 12 indicates moderate TBI. And a score above 12 indicates mild TBI. For example, if a person has an eye-opening score of 2 but all other scores at 9 or higher, that person would be considered to have had a severe TBI. For reference, here’s what GCS scores mean for common levels of awareness: * A coma is defined as unconsciousness with no eye-opening and no verbal response. This means that even when doctors try to wake up patients they cannot do so because they’re unconscious. * An extremely low GCS score is usually considered synonymous with death because it indicates there’s been such extensive damage to the brain that it’s not functioning properly anymore. As a result, people with extremely low GCS scores aren’t likely to recover enough function ever again even if they receive treatment and make progress toward healing.

Diagnosis

Patients who exhibit symptoms of a traumatic brain injury will likely undergo a thorough examination. Such examinations may include X-rays, CT scans, MRI imaging or blood tests. If levels of glucose or protein are elevated in that fluid it may be an indication of traumatic brain injury. Patients with suspected TBIs may also undergo skull X-rays in order to look for fractures or cranial bleeding from trauma to soft tissue or bone beneath skull bones. A CT scan can help doctors determine if there is any swelling or bleeding within the brain itself, but these images don’t show up on standard X-ray film so they must be viewed on computer screens by radiologists who specialize in interpreting medical images. A CT scan can also reveal any foreign objects embedded within the body such as glass shards, metal fragments or bullets. In cases where doctors suspect that a patient has suffered a TBI, they may ask him or her to complete several neuropsychological tests which measure cognitive skills such as memory, attention span and ability to process information quickly and accurately. These tests are used to detect abnormalities in patients who have sustained head injuries due to blunt force trauma. The most common test administered after a TBI is called the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The GCS measures eye-opening, verbal response and motor function/movement on a scale of 3-15 points. A score below 8 indicates severe brain damage while scores between 9 and 12 indicate moderate damage. Scores above 13 indicate mild damage while 15 means that no significant injury was sustained during impact. Doctors will also conduct basic neurological exams which involve testing reflexes, muscle strength and coordination in order to rule out other conditions such as stroke or seizure disorders which might mimic signs of TBIs.

Treatment

Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (MTBI) can range from headaches to memory problems to seizures. Your doctor will first want to make sure you don’t have a more serious condition like a concussion or haemorrhage before they start treatment. For milder cases of TBI, doctors may simply advise rest and relaxation to give your brain time to heal on its own. Moderate to severe injuries need hospitalization and depending upon the severity and type of injury patient may require surgery.

Prevention

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common cause of disability and death. Falls are a major risk factor for TBI, especially among older adults. In fact, more than 50% of TBIs in people 65 years or older result from falls. Other risk factors include domestic violence, physical assault, car accidents, workplace accidents and sports injuries. By avoiding these causes of TBI—as well as wearing seat belts when driving or riding in a car—you can lower your risk of developing TBI-related complications. But if you’re injured, there are ways to help minimize their effects. Most importantly, seek medical attention immediately after sustaining a head injury. When you do go to an emergency room, make sure that staff members check your Glasgow Coma Scale score (see below). This will tell them how severe your head trauma is and whether immediate treatment is necessary. Even if it isn’t life-threatening, proper treatment after an accident may reduce symptoms later on.

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