Traumatic brain injuries are complicated. It is damage the brain sustains due to external force or penetration by a projectile. TBI is classified based on the severity, anatomical features of the injury and the causing force (closed or penetrating head injury).
A closed head injury is blunt force trauma - a penetrating or open head injury occurs when an object pierces the skull, breaches the dura matter and the outermost membrane surrounding the brain.
In addition, head injuries are classified as either mild, moderate or severe and this is most commonly determined though the administration of the Glasgow Coma Scale which ascertains a person's level of consciousness from 3 to 15. Those who score 8 or lower are suffering from the most severe TBI, a score of 9 to 12 is moderate and 13 and above indicates the mildest incidence of traumatic brain injuries.
It is important to begin treatment for TBI within what is dubbed 'the golden hour' following the injury. Those who suffer from mild to acute TBI will most likely be transported to a hospital and placed in an intensive care unit followed by a longer stay at neurosurgical ward.
The actual course of treatment, however, depends on which stage the patient manifests. It is most important, though, for the doctor to stabilize the patient's condition to prevent further deterioration. Frankly, there is not much that can be done to reverse the initial damage caused by the trauma.
Finally, a large portion of those who die by TBI from an auto accident do not do so immediately but after lingering in hospitals for days and weeks after the accident due to a complex set of conditions that set in moments and even days later.
Greg Baumgartner is a Houston head injury lawyer and the founder of the Baumgartner Law Firm which handles high profile truck accident litigation.
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