Making Sense of a Traumatic Brain Injury

If you suspect that you or someone you love has suffered from a traumatic brain injury, then you probably have a lot of questions.  Brain injuries are one of the most frightening kind of injuries for many people, as their effects can be so different from one person to another, and the long-term prognosis is often difficult to ascertain.

According to the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA), a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as “a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of such an injury may range from "mild," i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to "severe," i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. A TBI can result in short or long-term problems with independent function.”

Symptoms of a traumatic brain injury

Some traumatic brain injuries are easy for doctors to diagnose, as they have obvious symptoms.  For example, if after an accident or traumatic event the victim falls into a coma or experiences seizures, this can indicate a brain injury.  On the other hand, there are many ways in which a less serious brain injury can manifest itself.  Sometimes doctors aren’t the ones to notice a potential brain injury, instead friends and family members notice changes in the way the injured person acts or changes in their physical condition.

Some symptoms of a mild brain injury include irritability, increased periods of frustration and anger, depression, and anxiety.  Physical symptoms include headaches, a loss of balance, fatigue, dizziness, a change in taste, or nausea and vomiting.  Difficulty in mental functioning that might indicate a brain injury include short term memory loss, forgetting certain events or special dates, difficulty concentrating, or problems processing or analyzing information in a noisy environment.

Diagnosing a brain injury

If you suspect that you or a loved one are suffering from the effects of a traumatic brain injury, then you will want to go to a doctor for diagnosis.  There are a number of different tests that can detect a brain injury, however the difficulty in making a diagnosis will depend on the severity of your injury.  Ultrasounds, CT scans, or MRIs can diagnose a more severe brain injury, where doctors will be able to easily view damaged parts of the brain and conclude that indeed trauma has occurred.

The most challenging type of diagnosis is for more mild brain injuries, where the aforementioned tools may not necessarily point to an obvious trauma site in the brain.  One form of diagnosis for mild brain injuries is neuropsychological testing, which uses standardized tests in an attempt to measure the extent and severity of a brain injury.  There are also brain imaging tests that can be used to secure a diagnosis, such as a PET scan or QEEG.

What to expect after a brain injury diagnosis

What you can expect after a brain injury diagnosis will depend on the severity of your injury.  Doctors often use the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) rating to classify brain injuries for acute medical and trauma patients.  The scale measures eye, verbal, and motor responses separately and ranks a patient’s response level for each.  The scores for the three responses are tallied, and a value is assigned.  The lowest possible score on the GCS scale is a 3, which means that the patient is in a deep coma or is deceased, and the highest score on the scale is 15, which means that the patient is fully awake.  GCS scale breaks head trauma injuries into three categories:  mild, moderate, or severe. 

• Mild brain injury (GCS score greater than or equal to 13): the symptoms of a mild injury include: loss of consciousness, loss of short-term memory (events immediately before or after the accident), or an altered mental state such as dizziness, disorientation, or confusion.  Typically symptoms last less than 30 minutes.  Most patients who have suffered a mild brain injury will not have any major functional deficits, however there may be some subtle long-term impacts like headaches or cognitive or memory problems.
• Moderate brain injury (GCS score between and including 9 to 12):  includes memory loss after the accident that lasts for longer than 30 minutes but less than 24 hours.  Also includes patients that suffer a skull fracture from the accident.  Patients suffering from a moderate brain injury may suffer from long-term physical or cognitive deficits, and the success of their recovery will depend on the area of the brain that was affected by the accident.  Patients will often need rehabilitation to counter the effects of a moderate brain injury.
• Severe brain injury (GCS score less than or equal to 8):  patients with a severe brain injury lose consciousness or suffer from post-accident amnesia for more than 24 hours after the accident.  These kind of brain injuries can be life threatening, and patients that survive such injuries often suffer from long-term physical and cognitive impairments.  The long-term prognosis for patients with severe brain injuries can vary from a vegetative state to more minor impairments, where the person can function with help.  Most patients with this kind of serious injury will require extensive rehabilitation.

Brain injury – you are not alone

According to the Brain Injury Association of America, of the 1.4 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

• 50,000 die
• 235,000 are hospitalized
• 1.1 million are treated and released from an emergency department
• An unknown number of people with TBI are never seen in an emergency department nor do they receive any medical care

You can read more about recent findings regarding the surprising long-term effects of brain injuries in our library article, “New Dangers from Brain Injuries”.

If you or someone you love has suffered from a traumatic brain injury, then the attorneys at the Houston based law firm of Vujasinovic & Beckcom want to hear from you.  We believe that through continuous and vigilant defense of brain injured clients we can help even the playing field and ensure that our brain injured clients can live normal lives, or at least have the financial peace of mind to know that they will not be destitute for lack or work or the inability to make money.  If you or someone you love are suffering from a traumatic brain injury, please contact Vujasinovic & Beckcom today.  We have successfully tried cases for victims injured in truck or auto accidents, workplace accidents, or in other kinds of accidents and injuries. 

Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002
Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801

Vujasinovic & Beckcom P.L.L.C
1001 Texas Avenue, Suite 1020
Houston, TX 77002

Phone: 713.224.7800
Fax: 713.224.7801