The Effect Of Intracranial Pressure On Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury Essay

Medical and technological advances have led to greater survival rates in individuals suffering from various illness and injury throughout history. This includes individuals who suffer traumatic and nontraumatic brain injuries. Approximately 1.5 million people in the United States sustain a brain injury each year with the survival rate of over 90 percent making brain injury the leading cause for disability in the United States. (Mysiw, Bogner, Corrigan, Fugate, Clinchot, & Kadyan 2006). Cognitive, physical, sensory and behavioral changes are widely noted in individuals in the months and years following a brain injury. However, the psychosocial, psychological and emotional effects of these injuries are less discussed and therefore these aspects can be overlooked when anticipating a course of treatment. Individuals who sustain acquired brain injuries experience significant, lasting impairment in the psychosocial, psychological and emotional aspects of their lives and better understanding of these issues can lead to better treatment and coping skills for these individuals.

A traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) occurs when the brain is somehow injured, rattled, or wounded from an external source of force. The means of acquisition and the severity of TBIs are unique to each patient; therefore, symptoms and rehabilitation can vary greatly depending on the patient’s condition following the incident and how they sustained the injury. The severity of a TBI is generally classified into one of three categories: mild, moderate, or severe, and this type of diagnostic criteria influences how a patient with TBI is treated by medical staff and rehabilitation specialists. TBIs can affect a specific part of the brain that was directly impacted, leaving the patients with only one or a few areas of impairment, or the damage can

A traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) occurs when the brain is somehow injured, rattled, or wounded from an external source of force. The means of acquisition and the severity of TBIs are unique to each patient; therefore, symptoms and rehabilitation can vary greatly depending on the patient’s condition following the incident and how they sustained the injury. The severity of a TBI is generally classified into one of three categories: mild, moderate, or severe, and this type of diagnostic criteria influences how a patient with TBI is treated by medical staff and rehabilitation specialists. TBIs can affect a specific part of the brain that was directly impacted, leaving the patients with only one or a few areas of impairment, or the damage can

Considering no two brain injuries are the same, treatment is stipulated accordingly. In the case of mild injury management, it is fairly low maintenance, requiring a lot of rest and over-the-counter pain medicine. However, the patient must be monitored religiously in case of worsening or new symptoms where immediately medical attention is vital. Once cleared by a doctor, the patient steadily returns to their normal schedules. Immediately after moderate and severe injuries, treatment is concentrated on prevention of secondary damage resulting from inflammation, bleeding, or reduced oxygen supply to the brain. Medications prescribed to diminish chance of secondary loss include diuretics, anti-seizure drugs, and coma-inducing drugs. Surgery is crucial in removing hematomas (clotted blood), repairing skull fractures, and opening a window in the skull in order to relieve pressure and allow room for swelling. A large part of treatment is rehabilitation. The goal is to get patients back to their normal daily routines. Rehab usually

* Protect the patient with ICP from self-injury with adequate padding on the bed. Because of likelihood of decreased LOC, confusion, agitation, and the possibility of seizures increase the risk for injury.

Signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can be difficult to diagnose. Many of the signs and symptoms vary from person to person or they can take up to a couple of weeks before they surface (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). The signs and symptoms can range from minor signs like blurred vision to more serious signs like loss of consciousness. The signs and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury include: Headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting (Clayton, 1995), unaware of place and time (Farrow, 2004), temporary or prolonged loss of consciousness, amnesia (memory loss), emotional instability, dilated pupils (Levy, 1993), balance problems, blurry vision, sensitivity to light and noise, sluggish or groggy feeling, or concentration problems (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007). If an athlete has these symptoms they should get immediate medical attention. However, most of these symptoms can be signs of another health problem so they may not have a traumatic brain injury with these

Professor Leslie Matthews of Morehouse School of Medicine is a trauma surgeon who treats TBI patients. He and his colleagues have just published a case series of a new successful treatment of TBI.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has gained considerable notice in recent years since the Global War on Terrorism. High percentages of service members surviving combat-related injuries are now battling the long-lasting effects and associated medical morbidities of brain trauma. Nearly 1.6 million service members deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) through June 30, 2007 (Defense Manpower Data Center ). While percentages of those deployed sustaining mTBI are only approximations and may underestimate prevalence of injury and underscore the subsequent impact of postconcussive symptoms, as many as 12-35% of those with exposure to combat are estimated to have experienced an mTBI (Schneiderman, Braver, & Kang, 2008 ; Hoge, et al., 2008 ). Moreover, an estimated 25,000 military personnel sustained an mTBI in 2014 alone, as reported by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC, 2015). MTBI has a

Phineas Gage, a 25 year old construction worker is known as one of the most famous patients that suffered from a traumatic brain injury. While working at a railroad site, an iron tamping rod (43 inches long, 1.25 diameter) went through his left cheek, through his brain, and out the skull. He surprisingly ended up surviving this traumatic injury. After a month in the hospital, he was back out on the street. Once a nice, caring person, Phineas turned into an aggressive man who could not even keep a job. Just like Phineas Gage, a TBI can potentially change everything. Brain studies on traumatic brain injuries are increasing every year. Even though the brain is very functional, brain injuries can have many physical, emotional, social, and

According to the CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), there are approximately 1.5 million people in the U.S. who suffer from a traumatic brain injury each year (CDC, 2003). Also, the CDC reports that nearly 50,000 people die from TBI each year and 85,000 people suffer long-term disabilities and slowly growing. Traumatic brain injury, also well known as TBI, is when severe change(s) in a normal functioning brain has abruptly changed due to a plethora of different MOI’s, some include: open or closed head injuries, deceleration injuries, chemical/toxic, hypoxia, tumors, infections and stroke. Car accidents, firearms, and falls often cause many TBI’s. Consequences of a brain injury vary from person-to-person because no two injuries are alike. A brain injury is different from a broken leg or punctured lung. Brain injuries do not heal like other injuries; once the brain is damaged it's hard to heal the damaged areas in the brain. Once the areas in the brain are affected it can lead to limited use of specific body parts, alter your personality, mental abilities, abnormal speech/language, impaired or loss of thinking and emotions (depression) and sensation (vision or hearing.)

Traumatic brain injuries, or TBI, are the leading cause of death in children and young adults globally. Of the people who survive, most live a drastically

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has continually garnered concern from the public. Effects of a TBI range from headaches to loss of motor functions in more severe cases. Normally when one hears that term, their first thought is about military personnel in a war zone. Now, that is definitely true; however, military personal are not the only ones who can receive a TBI. Anyone can suffer damage to the brain resulting in a TBI. A person’s head doesn’t even have to come into contact with another object for this to occur.

Recovery is a long ongoing process, based on many mechanisms that remain uncertain for an extended period of time. TBIs are also unique because no brain injury is like another, and the consequence of two almost identical injuries may be completely different depending on the person. Symptoms may appear almost immediately or may not present themselves for days or weeks after the initial injury. Individuals of all ages, background, and health status are susceptible to TBI. This paper will discuss the pathophysiology of TBI, nursing care management, and community resources available in WNY for individuals who suffer from TBI. There will also be three evidence based research articles summarized regarding TBI. The articles are as follows: Managing Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury by Devon Lump;(ADD ANOTHER ARTICLE); and Understanding the Pathophysiology of Traumatic Brain Injury and the Mechanisms of Action of Neuroprotective Interventions by

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) consist of pathological intracranial characteristics of altered brain function cause by an outside force. TBI’s have plagued emergency rooms in recent years. TBI’s are the number one cause for death and disability in American youth and young adults. The drastic increase in TBI prognosis has been credited for reasons such as; increased competitiveness in sports, increased speeds of automobiles and/or speed limits, increased incidence of thrill seekers, as well as advancement of imaging modalities. The development of certain imaging protocols has made diagnosis of TBI’s more common. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have paved the way in the imaging and identifying process of TBI’s. With the variety of different levels of severity of TBI’s, the diagnostic imaging and the associated application of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is crucial. The GCS is a point scale in which a health care professional can rate the severity of a brain injury and use a numeric value to objectively track the progress or decline in the patient’s health. In some cases, the TBI may inflict secondary vascular trauma in which the GCS may assist in detecting.

Patients who present with a traumatic brain injury (TMI), are at greatest risk of developing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which increases their death rate. The study of this article is to show the comparison of respiratory mechanics and the death rate with patients who present with a TMI and RDS with those patients who have RDS without a TMI, but other medical causes of the RDS. This study was performed in a 14-month period in a general intensive care and teaching unit in Brazil. It looked at patients who were in the ICU due to RDS with or without the cause being a TMI. A total of 85 patients