What does diffuse brain damage mean?
Closed Head Injury In its purest form, diffuse brain injury is the most common type of head injury. Diffuse axonal injury is the term used to describe a prolonged posttraumatic state in which there is loss of consciousness from the time of injury that continues beyond 6 hours.
Can you recover from diffuse brain injury?
DAI is a serious but common type of traumatic brain injury. It can be fatal, but it is also possible to regain consciousness after a DAI. For those who recover, intensive rehabilitation will be needed.
What does diffuse damage mean?
Diffuse injuries, also called multifocal injuries, include brain injury due to hypoxia, meningitis, and damage to blood vessels. Unlike focal injuries, which are usually easy to detect using imaging, diffuse injuries may be difficult to detect and define; often, much of the damage is microscopic.
What causes a diffuse brain injury?
Past Studies show that 40% to 50% of traumatic brain injuries requiring hospital admission are diffuse axonal injury (DAI). A DAI is caused by shaking or strong rotation of the head by physical forces, such as with a car crash.
What is an example of a diffuse brain injury?
Diffuse injuries include DAI, hypoxic-ischemic damage, meningitis, and vascular injury and are usually caused by acceleration-deceleration forces. These 2 forms of injury are commonly found together.
What is the chief symptom of diffuse axonal injury?
The main presenting symptom of a severe diffuse axonal injury is unconsciousness or profound coma. An injured worker may be unconscious for a brief period of time or may fall into a coma or vegetative state.
What parts of the brain will be damaged due to a diffuse axonal injury?
Usually, patients with diffuse axonal injury present with bilateral neurological examination deficits frequently affecting the frontal and temporal white matter, corpus callosum, and brainstem.
What are the chances of recovering from brain damage?
Of people who are in the VS 1 month after traumatic brain injury (TBI – when brain damage is caused by a physical impact such as a car crash or fall), 60% to 90% will regain consciousness by 1 year after injury. They will likely have a slow recovery. They usually have ongoing cognitive and physical difficulties.
What is the prognosis after diffuse axonal injury?
Prognosis of Diffuse Axonal Injury In mild to moderate forms of diffuse axonal injury, recovery is possible, with the mildest forms of diffuse axonal injury often resulting in few if any long-term issues. About 90% of survivors with severe diffuse axonal injury remain unconscious.
How long does brain damage take to heal?
The vast majority of recovery after traumatic brain injury takes place in the two years after injury; after this the brain injured patient faces an uncertain future. In some patients further improvement is seen even as late as 5-10 years after injury.
Can you fully recover from a severe brain injury?
Good recovery is the most common outcome for those surviving a severe closed head injury. Twenty percent of all severe closed head injury or 40 percent of all survivors reach a good recovery. Good outcome does not mean recovery back to their baseline prior to the injury.
What are the signs of brain damage?
Physical symptoms of brain damage include:
- Persistent headaches.
- Extreme mental fatigue.
- Extreme physical fatigue.
- Paralysis.
- Weakness.
- Tremors.
- Seizures.
- Sensitivity to light.
What is a diffuse brain injury?
Diffuse brain injuries form a continuum of progressively severe brain damage caused by increasing amounts of acceleration-deceleration injury to the brain. In its purest form, diffuse brain injury is the most common type of head injury.
What causes diffuse axonal brain injury?
A diffuse axonal brain injury is usually caused by violent blows to the head or other events that shake the brain, such as: Sporting injuries (football tackles, head-first impacts with sporting equipment, etc.) Shaken baby syndrome—children are particularly susceptible because their brains are still developing.
What is the pathophysiology of brain injury?
Brain injury can result from abusive head trauma. Diffuse brain injuries range from concussion (a change in physiologic and neurologic function without obvious changes on imaging studies) to diffuse axonal injury (disruption of axons in the subcortical white matter).
What happens to the brain after a traumatic brain injury?
After brain injury, a cascade of neurotoxic chemicals is released from the injured tissue, leading to further brain injury. In addition to diffuse injuries, focal contusions and hemorrhage can occur in the brain tissue.