Traumatic brain injury awareness is recognized during the month of March and provides an opportunity to promote strategies for preventing these catastrophic injuries and help improve the quality of life for TBI victims and their families.  These injuries result from a force or impact to the body or head, or a skull penetrating injury and affect roughly 2.5 million Americans every year.  In most cases, the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries are falls, especially in seniors age 75 or older.

Types of TBI’s and their Consequences

According to the medical and scientific communities, there are 4 types of traumatic brain injuries as follows:

• Anoxic brain injuries – if a blockage caused by clotting, heart attack, stroke, or other serious trauma prevents the brain from receiving enough oxygen, an anoxic injury can occur.  Additionally, anoxic brain injuries can result from choking, drowning, suffocation, or anything that renders the lungs incapable of taking in normal amounts of oxygen.
• Brain contusions – more commonly known as a bruising of brain tissues, they result when small blood vessels get broken and start leaking just like bruising of the skin.  However, unlike contusions of the skin, a number of issues can result from a brain contusion.
• Concussions – while minor in nature, concussions are caused by impacts to the skull, shaking, or sudden changes in movement (e.g. whiplash).In many cases, imaging tests fail to recognize the presence of a concussion.  However, they can still be serious.
• Penetrating brain injuries – these injuries occur when an object pierces the skull and makes contact with the brain along with hair, skin, and skull fragments.  They often result from contact sports, gunshot wounds to the head, slip and fall injuries, and vehicle accidents.

Based on the severity of the injury, TBI’s can be rated as mild, moderate, or severe.  The more common consequences of traumatic brain injuries often include cognitive dysfunction, disturbed sleep, impaired movement, and neurodegenerative diseases. On the severe scale of injuries, it can lead to disabilities and paraplegia. 

Benefits of Diagnosing Traumatic Brain Injuries with MRI’s

The most common form of diagnostic imaging performed after a person has suffered a traumatic brain injury is the MRI.  MRIs provide 3 benefits where this is concerned:

• First and foremost, they help to detect the severity of the injury.
• Second, an MRI can detect brain atrophy or changes in brain function.
• Finally, MRIs are more effective than CT scans at predicting future chronic neurologic deficits and problems.

For more information regarding traumatic brain injuries and their consequences, call Vital Imaging today at (305) 596-9992, we’re here for your assistance.