Traumatic Brain Injuries Cheat Sheet
Traumatic brain injury is a result of an external force to the brain that results in a change to cognitive, physical, or emotional functioning. The impairments can be temporary or permanent.
Types of traumatic brain injury include:
1: Diffuse axonal injury. Shaking or strong rotation of the head causes brain structures to tear. Nerve tissue is disturbed throughout the brain.
2: Concussion. Caused by a physical force to the head that causes blood vessels to stretch and cranial nerves to be damaged.
3: Contusion. A result of a direct impact to the head, which causes bleeding on the brain.
4: Coup-contrecoup injury. The force to the brain is large enough to cause contusion at the side of impact, as well as the site opposite impact.
5: Penetration injury. The impact causes a foreign object to penetrate the skull.