Types of Brain Injury

The Teaching Research Institute-Eugene

Multimedia

• Learn the common and not so common symptoms of concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury. Produced by Victoria Tilney McDonough and Brian King, BrainLine.

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  What Are the Symptoms of Concussion, Especially in Children?
• Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley. Learn more about traumatic brain injury through the eyes of doctors and survivors. This video is one in a series created to unravel the mysteries of the brain. Transcript of this video. Exploring Your Brain with Garrick Utley
• BrainLine got the chance to catch up with Michael Paul Mason about his role as a brain injury case manager and writer and talked with him about what happens to survivors of TBI after the injury. Transcript of this video. Michael Paul Mason Talks About What Happens to People Post-TBI
• Learn more about how axons in the brain can be torn and sheared during a diffuse axonal injury, interrupting communications within the brain. What Is Diffuse Axonal Injury?
• What is the difference? Learn more about brain anatomy and types of brain bleeds.

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  What is the Difference Between a Subdural and Epidural Hematoma?

In addition to the severity of a brain injury, the type of injury can make a difference in a student’s recovery. For instance, focal and penetrating injuries tend to injure specific portions of the brain. A student with this type of injury may have less overall damage as a result, depending on where the injury occurs and the cognitive processes involved in the damaged area of the brain. In contrast, a student whose head hits the pavement after a fall may injure both the area of the brain at the point of impact and the opposite side of the brain as well. This is called a coup-contra-coup injury. This type of injury may become diffuse because of the shearing and tearing that can occur as the brain moves back and forth within the skull. Other possible types of damage include contusions or bruises that result in swelling. Rotation injuries also result in shearing and tearing of brain tissue. When a baby is shaken, the brain often has several types of injuries including coup contra coup, rotation injuries and swelling. In this, as well as similar injuries to older children, the blood vessels tear causing internal hemorrhaging in addition to the direct damage to the brain tissue.

Compression Fracture
A depressed skull fracture in which the broken bone exerts pressure on the brain.

Concussion
The common result of a blow to the head or sudden deceleration usually causing an altered mental state, either temporary or prolonged. Physiologic or anatomic disruption of connections between some nerve cells in the brain may occur. Often used by the public to refer to a brief loss of consciousness.

Contrecoup
Bruising or damage to brain tissue on the side opposite where the blow was struck.

Diffuse Brain Injury
Injury to cells in many areas of the brain rather than in one specific location.

Hematoma
Rupture of a blood vessel leading to the collection of blood in brain tissues or empty spaces. There are several types of hematoma:

• Epidural – Outside the brain and its fibrous covering, the dura, but under the skull.
• Subdural – Between the brain and its fibrous covering (dura).
• Intracerebral – In the brain tissue.
• Subarachnoid – Around the surfaces of the brain, between the dura and arachnoid membranes.

Focal Injury
A focal Injury is confined to a specific area of the brain.

Penetrating Injury
A penetrating injury occurs when an object, such as a bullet or hay hook, breaks through the skull, enters the brain and rips the soft brain tissue in its path.

Skull Fracture
Skull fracture occurs by breaking of the bones surrounding the brain. A depressed skull fracture is one in which the broken bone exerts pressure on the brain.

Sources

emedicine,Classifications and complications of traumatic brain injury. Palenhan, P.H, MD, Kelly ,Brian M., DO, Hornyak J. MD, Ph.D., Smith D.E., MD., e-Medicine, Web MD last updated April 2, 2008.