Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of death and disability in the world. Brain trauma can lead to a number of different consequences. It can result from both blunt trauma, as in the case of a motor vehicle accident, and penetrating trauma, such as in the case of gun-shot or stab wounds.
Severity of TBI
The severity of TBI is often classified as mild, moderate or severe, depending on the level of consciousness of the patient. Severity scale of head injury and outcome from head injury are often used by medical professionals:
Glasgow Coma Scale: This is a scale which rates the level of consciousness of a TBI victim from 3 (worst) to 15 (normal).
Glasgow Outcome Scale: This scale ranks the long-term outcome of a TBI victim from 1 (dead) to 5 (good recovery).
Types of Injury
There is a great deal of confusion amongst layman about the description of various traumatic head injuries. For example, the term "concussion" gets used very frequently, often without knowing the true meaning of the diagnosis. Here we have several trauma-related diagnoses with links to more information about each so that you can understand what each means and implies:
Concussion: A very misunderstood and misused term, learn more about what concussion really means here.
In addition to the traumatic diagnoses listed above, there are some terms often used when discussing the care of a head injured patient which can help in the understanding of these clinical conditions:
What is a concussion? Often mentioned, but often misunderstood, the term concussion refers to a specific clinical condition resulting from a blow to the head.
Intracranial Pressure (ICP): Literally the pressure inside the head, this measurement can be critical in the treatment and prognosis of patients with severe brain injury.
If you cannot find a particular type of brain injury disease, use our Site Map and Search function to search this site. If you still cannot find it, it is possible we do not yet have an article for that specific condition. If that is the case, please Contact Us and let us know. We work hard to post new material often so that we can meet the needs of all of our readers.
Important Note: This site is not intended to offer medical advice. Every patient is different, and only your personal physician can help to counsel you about what is best for your situation. What we offer is general reference information about various disorders and treatments for your education.
