Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Flashcards
Traumatic brain injury (diagram on slide 3)
- brain dysfunction caused by an outside force, usually a blow to the head
- characterized by the severity of the initial blow = mild TBI, moderate TBI, or severe TBI
- external injury caused by a force towards the head
Non-traumatic brain injury (nTBI)
- brain dysfunction caused by an internal event
- includes things like stroke, anoxia, tumor, infection, aneurysm, metabolic disorders, or toxic exposure
Other commonly used brain injury terms
- acquired brain injury (ABI) = refers to any brain injury (BI) that was acquired after birth (not congenital)
- concussion = mostly used to describe mild TBI (not used consistently and often misunderstood)
Causes of brain injury (diagram on slide 4)
- stroke
- anoxic/hypoxic
- poison
- virus
- tumor
- fall
- motor vehicle accident
- stroke by an object
- sports
- IED (bomb or destructive device)
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- a nondegenerative, noncongenital alteration in brain function caused by an external force
Brain trauma that includes at least one of the following: - loss of consciousness
- posttraumatic amnesia (don’t know where you are)
- disorientation and confusion
Severe cases: - positive neuroimaging
- seizures
- visual deficits
- sensory loss
- hemiparesis
(Would not be able to see anything in mild cases in MRIs or CAT scans)
Classifications (levels) of TBI
- mild
- moderate
- severe
- based on loss of consciousness or coma, posttraumatic amnesia, and disorientation and confusion at the initial assessment
Glasgow Coma Scale (diagram on slide 7)
Eye opening:
- spontaneous = 4
- to sound = 3
- to pressure = 2
- none = 1
Verbal response:
- orientated = 5
- confused = 4
- words = 3
- sounds = 2
- none = 1
Motor response:
- obey commands = 6
- localizing = 5
- normal flexion = 4
- abnormal flexion = 3
- extension = 2
- none = 1
Scores:
- mild = 13-15
- moderate = 9-12
- severe = 3-8
Diagram on slide 9
PTA (post-traumatic amnesia) = how long did it take them to come out of LOC (loss of consciousness)
- mild = less than 30 min (duration of LOC) and 1 day (duration of PTA)
- moderate = 30min-24 hrs (duration of LOC) and 1-7 days (duration of PTA)
- severe = more than 24 hrs (duration of LOC) and more than 7 days (duration of PTA)
Concussions
- a type of mild TBI (induced by outside force)
- a traumatic brain injury induced by biomechanics forces
- typically results in short term neurological impairments that may or may not be detected by neuroimaging
- symptoms can show within 24-48 hours after injury (can also happen immediately)
Post-concussion syndrome
- symptoms began or have gotten worse since concussion onset and may persist for 3 or more months
Cognitive-related symptoms of post-concussion syndrome (diagram on slide 11)
- difficulty concentrating
- difficulty finding things
- difficulty reading
- easily distracted
- brain fog
- memory problems
Sensory-related symptoms of post-concussion syndrome (diagram on slide 11)
- blurry vision
- car sickness or nausea with motion
- change in (or loss of) taste or smell
- ringing ears
Mood-related symptoms of post-concussion syndrome (diagram on slide 11)
- anxiety
- depression
- feeling overwhelmed
- irritability
- low energy or motivation
- various other mood/personality changes
Blood dysregulation symptoms (diagram on slide 11)
- headache
- fatigue
- nausea
- dizziness
- sensitivity to light and noise
- sleep disturbances
- pressure in the head
- persistent neck pain
- tired eyes
Second impact syndrome (SIS)
- a condition that occurs when an concussed individual sustains a second impact upon their head before fully recovering from the first blow
- once you have had a concussion, you are more susceptible to having a second concussion
- after a concussion, your brain still is damaged (shaking in the jello mold demo)
- best way to prevent SIS is to ensure proper rest and recovery following an initial concussion
Symptoms of secondary impact syndrome
- loss of consciousness
- headache
- vomiting
- dilated pupils or vision loss
- seizure
Populations at highest risk for secondary impact syndrome
- young people ages 13-24
- males
- athletes in high contact sports, such as American football, hockey, and boxing
Common misdiagnoses of secondary impact syndrome
- cardiovascular emergency
- stroke
- seizure
Types of brain injury
- closed brain injury
- penetrating brain injury
- blast brain injury
Closed brain injury
- damage to the brain caused by blunt force
- head being struck by an object or hitting the dashboard in a MVA
Penetrating brain injury
- damage to the brain caused by a foreign object, such as a bullet
- perforates the skull and passes into the brain tissue
Blast brain injury
- damage to the brain caused by energy waves from an explosion such as a bomb
- creates bulk acceleration of the head, vascular surge in the brain, and dynamic deformation of the skull
- seen in veterans and workers who use a jackhammer
Types of brain damage
- focal
- diffuse
- primary
- secondary
Focal damage
- limited to one area of the brain
Diffuse damage
- occurs throughout multiple areas of the brain
- has more complications
Primary damage
- occurs at the time of injury and created by the direct impact or intrusion into the brain
Secondary damage
- occurs within hours to days of impact as a result of the physiological response to the injury
Coup and contrecoup injury
- coup = initial impact of the cerebral cortex against the skull
- contrecoup = rebounding of the brain to the opposite of the skull
- continues until the force of the impact has been absorbed
- cerebrum may also rotate on the brainstem
- seen in a MVA
Primary brain damage
- cellular level damage
- shearing of white matter tracts of the cerebral cortex
- stretching and shearing of brain cell axons resulting in diffuse lesions
- the structure of the brain is damaged
- working in blood tests to find markers in having a TBI
Secondary brain damage
- occurs within hours to days after impact
- neuroinflammation
- immune reaction in attempt to foster healing
- causes increased brain mass and increased intracranial pressure
- may require craniectomy (35%) = decreases the symptoms and implications of head injury
- raised intracranial pressure
- decreased cerebral blood flow
- ischemia - damaged cerebral vessels can no longer provide sufficient oxygenated blood to the brain
- damage to the brain causes swelling that is blocked by the skull, creating pressure
Incidence and prevalence of TBI in the United States
- 50,000 deaths
- 235,000 hospitalizations
- 1,111,000 emergency department visits
- ??? receiving other medical care or no care
- at least 1.4 million TBIs occur in the United States each year
TBIs in the United States by Causes (diagram on slide 20)
- motor vehicle accident (traffic)
- falls (obvious in young children and older adults)
- assault
TBIs in the United States by Sex (diagram 22)
- male are generally more of risk takers and thus occurs more to males
TBIs in the United States by Age Group (diagram 22)
- deaths
- hospitalizations
- ED visits
TBIs in the United States Among Children (0-14 years) by Causes (diagram 23)
- motor vehicle (traffic) = 11%
- falls = 39%
- assault = 4%
Top 20 concussion rates in high school sports (diagram on slide 24)
- football
- girls soccer
- boys ice hockey
- boys lacrosse
- girls basketball
- wrestling
- girls lacrosse
- boys soccer
- cheerleading
- girls volleyball
- girls field hockey
- girls softball
- boys basketball
- boys baseball
- girls swimming
- boys swimming
- girl as tack and field
- boys track and field
- girls cross country
- boys cross country
Signs and symptoms
- signs and symptoms vary greatly depending on location of the brain damage and severity of the injury
- more diffuse brain damage results in an increased in symptoms
- the more severe injury has a higher intensity and diversity of the symptoms
- severe TBI results in more residual motor symptoms but all levels report residual cognitive and psychosocial symptoms
- symptoms last for a few weeks or may persist for 3 months to a lifetime
Cumulative trauma disorder TBI
- seen with veterans with blast injuries and construction workers with jack hammering and dynamic working
- the more times a person sustains a mild TBI, the more severe the symptoms
- a person with a history of mild TBI who sustains another incident of mild TBI can potentially result in severe symptoms
- cumulative trauma disorder is the result of repeated blows to the head and is common in sports-related and domestic violence injuries
Medical complications of TBI
- coma
- seizures
- hydrocephalus
- dysautonomia
- deep vein thrombosis
- persistent vegetative state
Coma
- a state of deep unconsciousness characterized by decreased arousal and awareness of all stimuli that lasts for a prolonged or indefinite period
- coma causes the body to focus on healing the brain
- medically induced coma
Seizures
- a sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain the results in convulsions of the body
Hydrocephalus
- an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain (ventricles) that causes increased pressure in the skull
- enlarged ventricles
Dysautonomia
- a failure of the sympathetic or parasympathetic components of the autonomic nervous system that results in hypertension, tachycardia, increased body temperature and blood pressure, profuse sweating, and decerebrate or decorticate posturing
Deep vein thrombosis
- a blood clot that forms in a vein deep in the body often resulting from prolonged immobilization
- common in the leg due to immobility
Persistent vegetative state
- diffuse cortical damage with minimal brainstem damage that results in automated eye and limb reactions, but a lack of voluntary and conscious functions
Sensorimotor deficits of TBI
- decerebrate rigidity
- decorticate rigidity
- spasticity
- flaccidity
- posture = damage to the brain
- reflexes
- ataxia
- tremor
- impaired motor planning
- impaired coordination
- heterotopic ossification
- edema
- contractures
- quadriparesis (tetraparesis)
- hemiplegia
- monoplegia
- sensation
Decerebrate rigidity
- extensor posture of all extremities and/or trunk due to damage to the brainstem between the vestibular nuclei and the red nucleus
- stiff and straight out, extension of everything
Decorticate rigidity
- flexion of the upper extremities and extension of the lower extremities due to severe cortical damage with the brainstem intact
- a trick to remember: it is like being cold
Spasticity
- increased involuntary, abnormal muscle tone that causes resistance to movement while at rest or resulting from the hyperexcitability of the stretch reflex
Flaccidity
- reduced, abnormal muscle toner that impacts the person’s ability to voluntarily contract the muscle
- in the upper extremity, it may lead to shoulder subluxation
- no muscle tone
Reflexes
- involuntary action produced as a response to a stimulus
- reflexes can be hypo- or hyper responsive
Ataxia
- abnormal, uncoordinated movements typically caused by damage to the cerebellum
- seen with moderate TBIs
- able to walk, but really imbalanced
Tremor
- involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving oscillations or twitching movements
- resting tremors occur during relaxation of the muscle
- intention tremors occur during voluntary movement
Impaired motor planning
- reduced ability to form and execute a skilled, non automatic, physical movement in the correct sequence from beginning to end
- cannot get the body to figure out how to get from point A to point B
Impaired coordination
- reduced ability to use the different parts of the body together smoothly and efficiently
- coordination may be gross motor, involving large muscle groups, or fine motor, involving small muscle groups
- poor finger opposition
Heterotopic ossification
- bone formation at abnormal soft tissue sites in the synovial joints due to immobility
Edema
- excess fluid trapped in body tissues
- causes swelling
Contractures
- permanent shortening of a muscle or stiffness of the joint resulting in reduced range of motion
- it may be in response to prolonged hypertonic spasticity or edema
- difference between a contracture and spasticity is contractures have bone changes where you cannot stretch it out anymore
Quadriparesis (tetraparesis)
- impaired voluntary movement in all 4 extremities