- Who Suffers From TBI?
- What Are the Signs and Symptoms of TBI?
- What Are the Causes of and Risk Factors for TBI
- What Medical Care Should a TBI Patient Receive?
- How Does a TBI Affect Consciousness?
- What Immediate Post-Injury Complications Can Occur?
- What Disabilities Can Result From a TBI?
- Are There Other Long-Term Problems Associated With a TBI?
- What Kinds of Rehabilitation Should a TBI Patient Receive?
- How Can TBI be Prevented?
Introduction
Traumatic brain injury is sudden physical damage to the brain. The damage may be caused by the head forcefully hitting an object such as the dashboard of a car (closed head injury) or by something passing through the skull and piercing the brain, as in a gunshot wound (penetrating head injury). The major causes of head trauma are motor vehicle accidents. Other causes include falls, sports injuries, violent crimes, and child abuse.
The physical, behavioral, or mental changes that may result from head trauma depend on the areas of the brain that are injured. Most injuries cause focal brain damage, damage confined to a small area of the brain. The focal damage is most often at the point where the head hits an object or where an object, such as a bullet, enters the brain.
In
addition to focal damage, closed head injuries frequently cause diffuse
brain injuries or damage to several other areas of the brain. The diffuse
damage occurs when the impact of the injury causes the brain to move back
and forth against the inside of the bony skull. The frontal and temporal
lobes of the brain, the major speech and language areas, often receive the
most damage in this way because they sit in pockets of the skull that
allow more room for the brain to shift and sustain injury. Because these
major speech and language areas often receive damage, communication
difficulties frequently occur following closed head injuries. Other
problems may include voice, swallowing, walking, balance, and coordination
difficulties, as well as changes in the ability to smell and in memory and
cognitive (or thinking) skills.
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