Traumatic Brain Injury Analysis

After the long and physically demanding battles of World War Two, many soldiers returned to the United States of America battling injuries many physicians did not know how to acknowledge at the time. But, as many soldiers were able to return to their families, even with a brain injury, many soldiers lost their lives to brain injuries. Two researchers who conducted one of the largest studies on base camps about the extent of brain injuries and how it affected soldiers was Sekulovic and Ceramilac, these researchers were able to “summaries autopsies of 499 deaths occurring within 30 days of traumatic brain injury.”1 Sekulovic and Ceramilac were able to find “that 78% of the deaths were due to injury to brain stem, brain edema or brain compression.”1 While Sekulovic and Ceramilac were able to determine the percentage of which were affected by brain injuries during World War Two, many researchers were hoping to acknowledge the dynamic longer term possibilities. According to Dr. Ian J. Baguley, “patients who had been released from the hospital into rehabilitation facilities”1 were considered long term for brain injuries. Where as Dr. Robert M. Shavelle found that patients coming from war can be classified as long term as long as the effects lasted “one year or longer post injury.”1 Many studies by various researchers were also able to discover that “even in long-term, death rates from many different causes are elevated for persons with [traumatic brain injury] by comparison with

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, occurs when there is a sudden, direct injury to the head. This type of wound can result from a bump, blow, or jolt to the cranium. It may even result from the penetration of a foreign object into the brain tissue. Most TBI’s result from car accidents, sports injuries, blunt trauma, unintentional injuries and falls, with falls accounting for about 40% of all TBI injuries. Much like stroke patients, individuals suffering from traumatic brain injuries may have to live with a variety of detriments based on the location and extent of their injury. For example, patients can experience impaired sensation, vision, hearing, memory, processing skills or even emotional and behavioral functioning ("Injury Prevention & Control: Traumatic Brain Injury.”) The purpose of this paper is to provide information regarding the pathophysiology, treatment and medical management of traumatic brain injuries, as well as to educate health care providers of the additional ways in which support can be provided to both patients suffering from these types of injuries and their families. A case study will be supplied to facilitate discussion of the topic.

The HVLT-R has been shown to predict whether an individual will make a full recovery or develop post-concussive syndrome (Lezak, 2004), and low scores on the BVMT-R have been associated with cerebral impairments such as those seen in Alzheimer’s and dementia (Strauss, Sherman, & Spreen, 2006). Both the TMT and the COWAT have been found to be highly sensitive to brain dysfunction (Strauss et al., 2006). Digit Span Forward performance has been shown to be inversely related to the number of sustained concussions in soccer players (Matser, Kessels, Lezak, Jordan, & Troost, 1999), and Digit Span Backward performance is particularly sensitive to brain damage to the left hemisphere (Lezak,

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the military are a tangible threat to the men and women of the United States military. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a spotlight on this injury, as the “signature injury”. Specific criteria makeup the definition of a TBI, which is certain symptoms and severity levels of those symptoms. Due to the capacity of this injury, the Department of Defense (DoD) and Congress have created mandates, along with treatment methods, and the ability to achieve an end goal of aiding an individual’s complete recovery.

Traumatic brain injuries have become an epidemic, affecting both children and adults. The effects of these brain injuries are severe however; they do differ in severity from youth to adult age in areas such as: cognitive and speech function, physical ability, fatigue, and headaches. America has been recognizing the severity of these injuries and sports and medicine have increased funding to prevent them. In order to properly decide what treatment is best for adults or youth suffering traumatic brain injuries one must conclude the differences between adult and youth symptoms, this proves challenging because the amount of adults suffering traumatic brain injuries is much fewer than adolescents. Another challenge faced when attempting to record and prevent these injuries is the lack of knowledge of symptoms; youth often misinterpret concussion symptoms and believe they have learning disabilities such as ADD and ADHD.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is estimated to affect 1.6-3.8 million annually in the United States (Langlois, Rutland-Brown, & Wald, 2006). The incidence of traumatic brain injury in military personnel has increased since the military operation began in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2001, and while the exact number of cases is unknown, it has been estimated to be as high as 18% (Hoge, McGurk, Thomas, Cox, Engle, & Castro, 2008). There has been a growing concern for for the ramifications of traumatic brain injury, especially as a result of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) is the most common type of TBI in civilians and Iraq/Afghanistan veterans and soldiers (Carlson, Kehle, Meis, Greer, MacDonald, Rutks, Sayer, Dobscha, & Wilt, 2011). Operationally defined, mTBI in military settings is an injury to the brain as a result of an external force like a blast, fall, impact, or vehicle accident which changes the mental state with a presentation of symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness/balance problems, fatigue, insomnia/sleep disturbances, drowsiness, sensitivity to light/ noise, blurred vision, difficulty remembering, and/or

Within the US Special Forces one of the most prevalently seen injuries sustained in combat is a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This injury is frequently sustained after an improvised explosive device (IED) has detonated on a soldier and/or his vehicle. According to an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a traumatic brain injury is a “physiologically significant disruption of brain function resulting from the application of external physical force, including acceleration/deceleration forces” (Silver, McAllister, & Arciniegas, 2009). This is obviously a concern in regards to trauma to the brain; however, it is the long-term damage and incidents of neuropsychiatric sequelae that are most alarming. Neuropsychiatric sequelae, a term used

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is be described as a mental health condition that's triggered by a trauma experienced that is very severe. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are signature injuries of the wars that have been fought in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. There is still much to learn about the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and short- and long-term prognosis associated with each of these conditions. To improve the diagnosis and treatment of TBI and PTSD in the military, it is necessary to study individuals with a full range of symptom severity.

Extensive research offers hope for the growing numbers of people suffering from traumatic brain injuries that often leave victims unable to return to their previous lifestyle and sometimes require long-term care. Traumatic brain injuries are quite common from car accidents, a blow to the head, sports accidents, and in military veterans. These injuries have a long term effect that changes lives of many individuals. Some brain injuries, even have the power to change the way one speaks and complete simple everyday tasks which restrict one to be independent.

A TBI occurs when one has sustained tremendous and sudden amount of brain damage (American Speech- Language - Hearing Association, 2015). Brain injuries are classified as open or closed injuries depending on if the skull has been penetrated (American Speech- Language - Hearing Association, 2015). The leading causes of TBI’s include: falls, motor vehicle and pedestrian- related accidents, collision-

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) consist of pathological intracranial features of alteration in 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 to reasons such as; increased competitiveness in sports, increased speeds of automobiles and/or speed limits, increased incidence of thrill seekers, as well as increased sensitivity of medical imaging modalities. The development of certain imaging protocols has made diagnosis of TBI’s more common. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has paved the way in the imaging and identify process of TBI’s. There are different levels of severity in TBI’s and the diagnostic imaging and the associated application of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is crucial. The GCS is a point scale in which a clinician can rate the severity of a brain injury and use a numeric value to objectively track 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.

Traumatic brain injury may be the most prevalent and least understood neurological disorder in both civilian and military lifestyles. Every year there are thousands of traumatic brain injuries; in 2015, there were about 18,000 documented cases in the Military alone, Since 2000 there have been more than 339,000 reported cases.(DoD Worldwide Numbers for TBI. 2012) A traumatic brain injury or TBI is any damage to the brain from an applied force the forces involved can be from direct contact as in a blunt or penetrating head injury; or from rotational energy that produces shear stress between the brain and the skull. (traumatic brain injury, 2016). Military service members are at an increasingly higher risk of Contracting a TBI because of their

The characteristics of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Jesse displays are inattention, memory and speech. Jesse is also demonstrating his desire for isolation from his friends. He prefers to be alone most of the time, which is out of character for Jesse.

parindent{ }Traumatic brain injury is a significant health problem in the United States that is estimated to occur in 1.6-1.8 million persons annually (citealt{faul2010}). Diffuse axonal injury is %the most frequently occurring

parindent{ }Traumatic brain injury is a significant health problem in the United States that is estimated to occur in 1.6-1.8 million persons annually (citealt{faul2010}). Diffuse axonal injury is a common type of traumatic brain injury primarily characterized by damage to the axons (citealt{smith2000, Gennarelli1982}). An enhanced knowledge of the pathophysiology of diffuse axonal injury is required to develop improved diagnostic tools, protective measures and rehabilitation treatments(citealt{Giordano2014}). Many techniques have been developed to help elucidate the injury mechanism associated with diffuse axonal injury over the years. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is one such technique where the mesoscale structural information is studied to investigate the diffuse axonal injury. Finite element models have also provided a means to investigate diffuse axonal injury.