Sports injuries, teen car accidents, swimming pool accidents, bicycle accidents, and gun accidents, can result in traumatic brain injury.

What is traumatic brain injury?

Traumatic brain injury is a head injury so severe that it damages the brain. There are two types of head injuries that damage the brain.

A closed head injury is a brain injury that does not penetrate the brain. The brain is injured when the impact causes the brain tissues to hit the sharp inner surface of the skull.

A penetrating head injury is a brain injury that happens when something penetrates the skull or the skull is fractured. Bone fragments, foreign material, or dirt can get into the brain, damage brain tissue, and cause infection. However, a child can have a skull fracture without brain injury.

How common is traumatic brain injury?

It is common for children to suffer minor head injuries, especially those under the age of 1 and over the age of 15. However, males between the ages of 15 and 24 are more likely to receive head injuries severe enough to cause brain injury. About 70% of all accidental deaths in children are due to serious head injuries.

What causes traumatic brain injury?

Traumatic brain injury happens when an injury to the outside of the head is strong enough to cause brain damage. The most common causes are car and bicycle accidents, but can also include sports injuries, falls, gunshots or blows to the head.

What are the symptoms?

When a head injury bruises or tears the brain tissue or blood vessels around the brain, the inside of the brain bleeds and swells. Swelling creates pressure inside the skull. This is called "intracranial pressure". This pressure can cut off the flow of oxygen to the brain. Symptoms of a traumatic head injury include:

• Loss of strength and sensation in any part of the body
• Confusion
• Speech and vision problems
• Dizziness/loss of balance
• Severe headache
• Vomiting
• Clear fluid draining from the nose or mouth
• Extreme drowsiness
• Loss of consciousness

What Should I do if I think my child may have Traumatic Brain Injury?

If you think your child may have a traumatic brain injury, call 911 and immediately consult your local children's hospital. To diagnose a traumatic brain injury, the doctor will take into consideration how the injury occurred, as well as the symptoms.

The doctor will perform a careful neurological evaluation, checking your child's level of consciousness, reflexes, pupils and their reaction to light, ears, pulse, blood pressure, and breathing rate.

What is the treatment?

Children with traumatic brain injuries are always hospitalized and observed for changes in consciousness, breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate. The child is kept quiet in a darkened room, with the head of the bed raised to reduce pressure within the brain. Frequent neurological exams will show any changes in pressure in the skull. The doctor will then determine whether surgery or other courses of action are necessary.

It may take many years to recover from a traumatic brain injury. Severe brain injuries require a long-term treatment plan, including physical and occupational rehabilitation, behavior management programs, assisted-living programs, and psychotherapy.

If your child is suffering from a traumatic brain injury contact Villari, Brandes & Kline so we can determine if it was caused by the fault of another.