As an established personal injury law firm, our practice group represents clients and their families affected by serious injury. For those who suffer undetected brain injury, the consequences can be devastating.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow, impact or penetration of the brain within the skull. During a serious car or slip and fall accident, the brain moves within the bony skull, bruising the brain, shifting and shearing important axonal connections.
The most common injury to the brain is a concussion, but serious injuries are also sub-concussive, unseen on post-accident imaging tests designed to detect structural damage, not functional loss.
In a recent article in the Journal of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), physicians from Albany Medical Center described the importance of detecting minor traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Despite its name, mTBI refers to a brain injury that is not life-threatening but that could have lifetime consequences. Points of the article include:
- Orthopaedic surgeons who evaluate accident victims for broken bones and other injuries are ideally positioned to assess for mTBI. Accident impact serious enough to break a bone is sufficient to injure the brain.
- Undiagnosed mTBI is often associated by victims with the accident. As physical injuries heal, victims expect their exhaustion, mental fuzziness, emotional difficulties and other psychological symptoms to subside.
- If mTBI is not addressed, long-term consequences include job and career difficulties, relational problems and, eventually, economic and emotional instability.
If you or a loved one suffer injury in a car or other accident in Des Moines, ask your physician about evaluation for mTBI. Even if not life-threatening, brain injury can be life-changing. Speak to a skilled injury law firm.