TBI & SCI Flashcards
Traumatic brain injury facts
Acute trauma to head and brain with or without skull fracture
10000-20000 severe traumatic brain injuries per year
Men 2x more likely
15-24 yrs old and over 80s most at risk
Common causes of TBI
Motor vehicle accidents
Cycling (helmet reduces 88% chance)
Sports injuries
Violence
Falls and accidents
Potential effects of head injury
Behaviour and personality changes - anxiety, depression, loss of motivation, difficulty controlling anger, impulsivity
Cognitive impairment- problems with memory, attention, concentration. Low tolerance for noise or stressful environments, loss of insight and initiative
Motor and sensory deficit changes- loss of coordination, muscle rigidity, epilepsy, speech issues, sight/smell/taste loss, fatigue, sexual problems, paralysis
Glasgow coma scale (GCS) - TBI diagnosis
Monitors changes in consciousness
Monitors motor response, verbal response and eye opening
Score ranges from 1 to 4-6
<8 is a severe head injury (coma)
9-12 moderate head injury
>12 mild head injury
Traumatic brain injury: closed injury
Trauma cause brain to be violently shaken inside of skull eg blast injury. No visible wound
Traumatic brain injury: open/penetrating injury
Object goes through the skull and enters brain
Traumatic brain injury: crush
Head is sandwiched between two hard objects
Traumatic brain injury: coup
Primary injury cause when the head stops suddenly and the brain rushes forward. Brain incurs a primary impact injury at the site of skull stroke as well as surrounding tissue
Traumatic brain injury: counter coup
Secondary injury caused when brain bounces off the primary surface of impact and goes on to impact the opposite side of the skull. Brain incurs focal area of damage as well as damage to nearby surrounding tissue
Traumatic brain injury: coup and contrecoup forces
Rotational forces - shearing and twisting
Coup - blow
Countrecoup - contusion, swelling, blood clots
Whiplash injury, TBI and cervical vertebrae
Hyperextension of the neck followed by hyperflexion
Major area of damage done to anterior longitudinal ligament
Vertebrae can become dislocated and/or fractured
Whiplash: hyper extension
Sudden backwards acceleration of skull. Once skull stops moving, the frontal lobe strikes the front of skull
Whiplash: Hyperflexion
Head recoils forward and stops
Occipital lobe strikes back of skull
Key events in TBI: primary
Skull fracture (open)
Contusions (bruising, damage to blood vessels)
Haemorrhage (bleeding from raptured blood vessels)
Haematoma (localised pooling of blood)
Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) (damage to axons through the brain)
Concussion (temporary - neuronal dysfunction)
Key events in TBI: secondary
Intracranial - evolves over hrs, days, week after impact
Brain swelling, cerebral oedema, hydrocephalus
Increased intracranial pressure
Intercranial haemorrhages, traumatic haematomas, infections
Blood flow changed and metabolic changes
Epilepsy
Hypoxia-ischaemia (reduced o2 to brain)
What can haemotoma lead to?
Increased intracranial pressure and shifting of brain tissue so increased pressure in brain tissue
What do all the key events in TBI lead to?
Atrophy of brain tissue and wide ranging symptoms
Neuropathology of TBI
Atrophy and increased ventricles
(Seen through T1 weighted MRI)
TBI - intracranial pressure (ICP)
Cerebral perfusion pressure = mean arterial pressure - intracranial pressure
CPP should not fall below 70mmHg - risk of hypoxia and ischaemia
Normal ICP
7-15mmHg