Brain injuries usually arise from accidents involving strong forces striking the head. A great example of this would be vehicular accidents, wherein the head gets a physically powerful bump to anything adjacent to it.
When a strong force is applied to head, two things happen.
First, skull damage. The skull may be fractured due to laceration of meningeal arteries leading to extradural hemorrhage. Extradural hemorrhage, also termed as epidural hemorrhage, is bleeding from a damaged blood vessel. Focal brain damage or injuries isolated in affected areas of the brain causes an inflammatory response which may precipitate cerebral edema. With skull fracture, there is a great risk of infection due to disruption of primary defenses and development of open wound.
Second, brain motion during the injury. There are three possible scenarios that can occur:
- Cup/countercoup injury,
- Torsion around stationary brain stem, and,
- Bridging vein rupture.
Coup refers to the point of impact while countercoup is the area opposite to it. In coup/countercoup injury, the force transferred to a certain area of the head (coup) accelerates the brain in its protective pool called cerebrospinal fluid. At the end of the movement, the motion of the brain is centered against the cranial vault. The brain then absorbs the compressive force and fiercely rebounded off the skull (countercoup). This generates great force that causes further brain distortion. This injury, alongside torsion around stationary brain stem, leads to contusion and concussion.
Concussion is a loss of consciousness following a brain injury. Concussion mechanism involves brain motion during the injury, with an interruption of reticular activating system function. The reticular activating system plays a role in wakefulness or consciousness. With Concussion, the possible occurrence of amnesia may be retrograde, or loss of memory from point of injury, and anterograde, or loss of memory until sometime after the injury. The length of amnesia will depend on how extensive the brain damage has become.
Lastly, the effects of brain motion causes vein rupture resulting to subdural hematoma. It is the bleeding from a disrupted blood vessel which eventually coagulates. This hematoma can impede normal blood flow of the brain which decreases brain oxygenation and neurologic function.
Any form of brain injury requires immediate attention in order to prevent loss of brain function.
If you suspect that you or a loved one has suffered an injury that could result in TBI, go to the webpage of Attorney Elan Wurtzel of Personal Injury Law Firm Wurtzel Law here.
This article is not intended as legal advice.