A serious brain injury usually results in a loss of consciousness (coma), which may be brief—lasting only a few minutes—or may extend to days, weeks, or months. If the period of coma is short, return to full or nearly full function is likely; but as time in a coma lengthens, intellectual and speech impairment, behavioral disorders, and related physical disabilities can occur.

It is important to note that a person does not have to lose consciousness to have sustained a brain injury. Minor brain trauma, where there is little or no loss of consciousness and no resulting hospitalization, can also cause temporary or permanent damage to the brain.

The book: Traumatic Brain Injury Survival Guide helps explain what to expect. You can find it online at: tbiguide.com.

Because of the magnitude of the problem, brain trauma has remained largely unknown by the American public. There are currently 5.3 million individuals—a little more than 2 percent of the U.S. population—living with a disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury. When considering an individual’s family and circle(s) of support, brain injury touches the lives of approximately one in every 10 persons in the United States.

• Of the 1.7 million U.S. civilians who sustain a TBI: 52,000 die, 275,000 are hospitalized, and 1.4 million are treated/released from emergency rooms. The number of people with TBI who are not seen post-injury or receive no care is unknown (1).
• Falls, motor vehicle accidents, and violence: leading causes of TBI among civilians. Blasts: leading cause among active duty military personnel; an estimate of up to 1/3 of patients evacuated from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom combat areas may have TBI (2).
• The CDC has estimated that at least 3.2 million people currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help in performing certain activities of daily living as a result of having received a TBI (3).
• Costs for TBI are staggering at over $60 billion per year in the U.S. alone.

Long Range Complications of Brain Injury

Any or all of the complications caused by the TBI may occur in varying degrees. Good pre-hospital care, appropriate trauma treatment, and intensive rehabilitation are needed to alleviate symptoms and prevent complications or secondary disabilities.

Cognitive:

• memory loss (short and long term)
• problems in arousal, attention, and concentration
• problems in initiating action, planning action, and follow up
• problems in judgment
• difficulty in recognizing own cognitive deficits/limits
• difficulty with abstract thinking (needs simple, concrete direction)
• difficulty in generalizing from a specific time, place, or idea
• spatial disorientation (problems with perception, direction, etc.)
• slowness of thought process
• slowness and/or difficulty with speech

Physical:

• fatigability; maintaining attention and activity produces fatigue
• visual impairment
• hearing impairment
• loss of taste
• spasticity
• hemiparesis
• seizures

Psychosocial:

• anxiety and depression
• emotional-lability (swings in mood)
• “denial”
• inappropriate behaviors (impulsivity, disinhibition, lack of social judgment, and appreciation of subtleties)
• egocentricity (focus on one’s self; loss of social perspective)
• agitation/outbursts
• sexual dysfunction
• loss of social network/isolation

Rehabilitation Info