A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a person received an impact to the head. At The Barnes Firm, our brain injury lawyers have seen how motor vehicle accidents, medical mistakes and falls can cause traumatic brain injuries.
Our team of brain injury attorneys work with some of the area’s top brain experts to help our clients and their families get the best results possible from an injury claim. We understand how a brain injury can severely affect your way of life.
If you or a family member has suffered any type of brain injury, contact us immediately – or give us a call.
Car accidents are the cause of all traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the United States.
These incidents usually happen when a person’s head hits an object, such as a windshield or headrest, with such force that it causes the brain to move within the skull.
Brain injuries, such as concussions, can develop immediately or over a long period of time as the tissue swells and bleeds.
Brain injuries can happen in any type of accident, but they are most severe in side-impact car accidents, or T-bone accidents. This is due to the high probability of a person’s head striking the window. Side-impact air bags have helped reduce these injuries, but they are still the most common injury in car accidents today.
When air bags do not work properly, head injuries can be amplified. In many cases, defective air bags have killed and paralyzed innocent drivers and passengers. They’re also responsible for millions of auto recalls over the last few years. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that defective air bags have killed hundreds of people in car accidents, while a functional air bag could have saved their lives.
In most medical circumstances, a brain injury could have been avoided, or at the very least, minimized if doctors and hospital staff members followed proper patient safety guidelines. These mistakes are considered medical malpractice.
Personal Injury Lawyer Helping Children With Birth Injury
Each year, roughly 100,000 children are hospitalized with traumatic brain injuries. These can stem from a variety of different accidents, including:
In recent years, researchers have found just how devastating these brain injuries can be, and they’re often difficult to diagnose in a child.
Children who suffer a concussion or other TBI can have normal or above average IQ scores immediately after the injury, but their brains can develop significant problems over the next few weeks, months and years. These injuries can make it difficult for children to organize their lives or make logical daily decisions.
If you believe your son or daughter has suffered a concussion or other traumatic brain injury, it is crucial to take the proper steps now. Contact us or call one of our brain injury attorneys for a FREE consultation.
There are many symptoms of a concussion or a brain injury, and it can often be difficult to diagnose.
Here are some key symptoms to watch for
There are also a number of institutions and groups with one common goal: to help victims of concussions and TBIs. These resources have been very helpful to victims and their families.
Other Brain Injury Links Here.
If you believe you or a loved one has suffered a concussion or traumatic brain injury, you probably have a lot of questions. Our team of experienced brain injury attorneys can help.
Also known as a TBI, a traumatic brain injury can be caused by any type of blow to the head. A concussion is one type of TBI, most commonly associated with sports, however there are many types of accidents that can cause a person to suffer a TBI.
There can be several serious consequences that stem from any brain injury. These symptoms may include:
In extreme cases, a traumatic brain injury could cause internal bleeding, and may require surgery to alleviate pressure. Those who suffered a traumatic brain injury may also need treatments from various specialists. These specialists could include:
A person suffering a concussion may be knocked unconscious, or experience confusion for a few seconds. Usually, the brain is able to recover from a concussion, but even with today’s research, it is not clear how much force is needed to permanently damage the brain.
Concussions can also be mild or more severe:
It is estimated that concussions are responsible for over 600,000 emergency room visits each year.
Nerve cells in the brain communicate with other, distant, nerve cells through fibers called ‘axons.’ These axons make up the brain’s white matter. In cases of a whiplash accident, these fibers can twist, stretch or become damaged
When these axonal fibers are damaged, doctors refer to the injury as a Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI). DAIs are usually caused by severe whiplash injuries, and the patient often becomes comatose.
Whenever an impact is so forceful that the skull fractures, it can cause a severe brain injury. This is known as a direct impact injury. The object causing the impact does necessarily have to go through the skull. Instead, the force can cause the brain to hit the inside of the skull.
Direct impact injuries can happen whenever the skull makes contact with an object. When the moving skulls comes to a sudden stop (or impact), the brain continues its movement and hits the interior of the skull. This often causes the brain and bleed internally.
Hypoxia occurs when the brain is deprived of oxygen. This can be the result of:
Since brain cells require a regular source of oxygen, they can become irreversibly damaged within minutes. Hypoxia lasting longer than five minutes can often put a person in a coma, or even lead to brain death.
Unlike a direct impact injury, an indirect impact injury does not require an outside object to strike the skull. Any violent shaking of the head, neck and spine can damage the sensitive nerve cells in the brain. Whiplash is an example of an indirect impact.
Whenever blood collects in the brain, it can cause severe damage. If a blood clot develops outside the dura (the membrane that envelops the brain) it is known as an epidural hematoma. When a blood clot develops between the dura and the brain, it is called a subdural hematoma.
Both of these conditions can cause a person to experience symptoms of a brain injury.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney president Rich Barnes who has more than 30+ years of legal experience as a practicing personal injury trial attorney.
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