Brain injuries can lead to the damage of the brain cells in severe cases. It can be because of physical activity or accident, or illness like a stroke or a tumor. Whatever the reason is, brain injuries can leave a destructive impact on the patient, which sometimes leads to paralysis and, in the worst-case scenario, death.
Brain injuries can be divided into two sections. Both have different kinds of effects, and the diagnosis and the treatment are also other.
Some symptoms of brain injuries are:
The causes of brain injuries are uncountable and most severe. So, the diagnosis has to be appropriately done to lessen the damage. Without doing that, this can lead to severe damage that cannot be undone.
Physical symptoms: concussion, physical pain, headaches, seizures, fatigue, weakness, etc.
Psychological symptoms: stress, depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, etc.
Observational symptoms: difficulty in expressing, talking, understanding etc.
Visceral signs: losing eyesight or hearing abilities, unable to balance etc.
With all these different kinds of symptoms, brain injuries have to be identified next. There are several ways to determine the damage. This will give an exact picture of where and how much damage has been done.
Types of brain injury:
There are several types of injuries in the two primary forms of brain injury. Both TBI and ABI have different criteria.
Classification of traumatic brain injury:
TBI is caused by any external trauma, and the injuries leave a visible sign. This can be caused by: Car accidents, Workplace accidents, Sports injuries, Physical abuse, etc.
Concussion: This is a mild brain injury. It happens for a brief amount of time and heals over time.
Contrecoup injury: this can be done by external forces and leaves a bruise. Can be mild to severe injuries. The impact of the scrape or accident will be on the opposite side of the brain.
Diffuse axonal injury: this happens mainly when the axons are damaged due to an accident. Axon connects the brain cells and spread across the brain. This hinders standard information transmission.
Hematoma: This is the blood clots that are done due to the internal bleeding of the brain. There are several types of hematoma, and surgeries have to be performed to get rid of it.
Classification of acquired brain injury:
ABI is mainly caused by internal pain or any illness. They do not leave a physical sign but can show symptoms that need to be diagnosed. The causes are Toxic chemicals, Brain tumor or cancer, Brain stroke, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Infections etc.
Infections: this can happen because of different conditions. Any external brain injury makes it prone for bacteria to attack brain cells. Meningitis is a kind of bacterial infection that can cause high fever and are severe in children.
Tumors: These are a widespread source of brain injury. Medications can stop the oxygen flow from the tumours and make them incapable. But sometimes, operations are needed to get rid of the tumour. The tumour can lead to brain cancer in the worst case.
Brain stroke: this is mainly a temporary cut of blood circulation in a part of the brain. Sometimes blood clots can narrow down the veins in the brain, which can cause brain strokes.
Brain hemorrhage: this can be caused by both external and internal factors. A tumor or an accident can cause a brain hemorrhage. This can be life-threatening and sometimes leads to paralysis or death.
Dementia: These are the plaques in brains that worsen over a period of time and can lead to some severe symptoms. Alzheimer’s is one of the most known forms of dementia.
The methods of diagnosing and treatment:
Diagnosing a brain injury is more important than actually treating it. Because delaying this process can be life-threatening.
- CT scan:this is mainly an x-ray that gives a detailed image of the brain. This can identify skull fractures, blood clots, internal bleeding and other complications. This calculates the severeness of the injury and is done several times throughout the treatment.
- MRI:magnetic resonance imaging gives more detailed images of the brain cells. This works with radiofrequency and magnetic fields at the same time. The results are more in 3D; thus, it gives more precision.
- MRS: magnetic resonance spectroscopy gives the general idea about patients metabolism, which can determine how long it will take for the patient to recover.
With such traumatic injuries, there are also treatments available. This can be of different sorts and can be done with other mediums. Each has different effects and procedures.
Medication:
This is the simplest form and a start of the necessary treatments.
- Sedatives:with painful injuries, patients are sedated for days. This makes the patients more relaxed and helps the brain to calm down over time.
- Hypertonicsaline: this is done to maintain the pressure inside the brain. Extra water is extracted from the cells and maintains the balance of the cells.
- Anti-seizure medications: patients with severe brain injuries are treated with such medicines, preventing any traumatic illness.
- Antibiotics:with external injury, antibiotics are the most effective to prevent any infection. This will get rid of microbial diseases.
Surgeries:
If medications do not work, the doctors have to go for the surgeries. This term is more critical, but it also had a long-term effect.
- Craniotomy:this involves cutting a part of the skull. This can be done because of fractures or to remove blood clots. The removed portion is secured with plates after the surgery.
- Decompressivecraniotomy: this is the swelling of the brain. This is mainly done to get rid of the carnal pressure of the brain. The removed part is restored after a while.
- Tracheotomy: This is mainly the removal of the breathing tube from the neck.
Now that we discussed all the treatments of brain injuries, but it’ll take more time to rehabilitate the patient.
Rehabilitation:
This is one of the crucial factors of brain injuries. The patients are discharged from the hospitals when they do not need any intensive treatment. But they can be placed in a rehab centre or a nursing home. Both physical and mental therapy is necessary for the patients. And they need to prepare to return to their everyday lives.
To sum up…
These are all the main issues related to brain injuries. There are more advanced ways to treat brain injuries. These sorts of injuries are very critical to deal with. But the best way to comprehend is to prevent any cause of external injuries. And as for the acquired injuries, a regular medical check-up can prevent that.