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September 23, 2022
- Injury Lawyer
- By Cesar Ornelas
Traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, are injuries to the brain caused by a sudden trauma to the head. Traumatic brain injury is also referred to as concussion and can result from a fall, car crash, sports accident, or blast injury. Anyone with an accidental TBI should have an experienced injury attorney review their rights.
How Occurs a TBI?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden trauma impacts the skull so violently that it causes damage beyond the initial surface cut. This type of brain injury can be life-altering and is considered one of the leading causes of long-term disability in those who sustain this type of trauma.
Therefore, an individual who has suffered a traumatic brain injury will experience some combination of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social difficulties as a result of this condition.
Someone with this condition then may need help to get through each day and manage their finances, housing, and healthcare. The costs of caring for someone with TBI are typically high, which is why the type of injury is often cited in personal injury cases.
Traumatic Brain Injury – Classification
A TBI can be classified from moderate to severe based on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score and what part of the brain was damaged. The GCS summarizes scores for responses of the eye, motor, and verbal responses and goes from 3 to 15, with 15 indicating a patient who is fully awake.
The GCS then allows doctors to define, objectively, the extent of impaired consciousness in trauma patients with respect to eye-opening and verbal and motor responses. Doing so allows them to get a clear idea of each patient’s health. Each of the findings aggregates into the overall score, all of which offer a useful summation of the severity of the brain injury.
The most frequent causes of TBIs include motor vehicle accidents, falls, violence, and sports activities such as skiing, skateboarding, and football. The CDC estimates that there are over 200,000 new cases of TBI every year.
What is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is damage to the brain caused by an outside force. Again, TBIs can range from mild to severe and can cause long-term health complications. Motor vehicle accidents fall, sports injuries, violent acts, or work-related accidents most frequently lead to TBIs.
A traumatic brain injury may result in a variety of symptoms, including headaches, confusion, difficulty concentrating, dizziness, blurred vision, and trouble sleeping. People who have experienced a TBI often have trouble with everyday tasks, including carrying on a conversation, reading, and driving.
How Does a TBI Occur?
Again, a TBI occurs when the head experiences a sudden trauma. Therefore, the severity of a TBI is dependent on the force applied the amount of time the head is subjected to this force and the direction in which the head is moving.
TBI Symptoms
The symptoms and lasting effects of a TBI can vary widely between patients. Some people may experience few symptoms at all while others may deal with symptoms that last a lifetime. An elaboration of the common TBI symptoms can be broken down as follows:
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- Headaches – This is the most common TBI symptom. It can occur as soon as 24 hours after the injury, and it can last for weeks or even months.
- Changes in sleep patterns – Some people experience insomnia while others have trouble falling asleep. Sleep problems often lead to headaches associated with a TBI.
- Loss of consciousness – from minutes to hours.
- Nausea and vomiting
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- Fluid draining from the ears or nose
- Seizures or convulsions
Symptoms may range from cognitive to mental to physical in nature.
Risk Factors for TBI
Anyone is susceptible to a TBI. However, certain factors can increase your risk of experiencing the injury. These include engaging in dangerous or risky activities, or working in an occupation, such as construction, that exposes you to an increased risk of TBI.
Contact Cesar Ornelas Law about Your Traumatic Brain Injury Case Today
To file a personal injury lawsuit in Texas, you only have a small window of time. If you have suffered a TBI because of the fault of another party, you need to discuss your case immediately. The statute of limitations runs out for personal injury lawsuits in Texas after two years. Learn more about your options now. Contact Cesar Ornelas Law at (210) 592-4114 today.
Originally from Kyle, Texas, Mr. Ornelas is a first-generation college graduate and a first-generation attorney.
Licensed in Texas, Cesar Ornelas’s nationwide practice is entirely contingency fee-based and consists of a wide variety of catastrophic personal injury and death cases. He has represented countless victims of catastrophic accidents across the United States.
