Brain Injury Accident

Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer | Sacramento Brain Injury Attorney

Those who sustain concussion, hemorrhage, significant loss of consciousness, coma, and/or skull fractures are typically diagnosed as having sustained a "moderate" to "severe" traumatic brain injury.

Injuries of this nature are generally detectable on CT, MRI, and other imaging devices. In many instances, the patient's very survival is an issue. Brain swelling, contusion and edema are likely complications. In virtually all cases, quality of life is a premier end goal.

A brain injury is not always visible to the naked eye. Direct trauma to the head may leave a gash that can penetrate or fracture the skull and possibly the brain. That same kind of trauma can cause the brain to collide with the skull without breaking the bone itself. Another kind of trauma, indirect trauma, is often associated with the "Shaken Baby Syndrome" because it involves a severe shaking or whiplash that can shake or rotate the brain, damaging the delicate nerve cells inside your head.

Some secondary types of brain injury stemming from non-neurological structure injuries can also be devastating to victims and their families. Such injuries include edema, hematoma, and hydrocephalus and hygroma. An edema refers to the swelling of the brain that can lead to pressure building up and preventing blood and oxygen from entering the brain. Hematoma is the collection of blood due to tissue injury or tearing of a blood vessel. Bleeding in the brain after trauma can occur after being released from the emergency room. Hydrocephalus and hygroma are characterized by a collection of fluid in and around the brain.

When you are involved in an accident, it may be very hard for even medical professionals to determine whether or not a brain injury has occurred. The following is a list of common signs of an injury to the brain:

• Loss of consciousness - You lose consciousness to any degree from being dazed for a few seconds to slipping into a coma.
• Post-traumatic amnesia - You experience memory loss of events prior to and following the incident.
• Concussion - Your awareness is altered, and you may feel dizzy, nauseous, disoriented, forgetful, irritable, or depressed.
• Encephalopathy - Your brain is not functioning normally (which may not be a permanent state), and you may be confused, inattentive, or in a stupor.
• Focal neurological signs - You experience recognizable signs that tell your doctor your brain is not functioning one hundred percent.
• Seizure - Your nerve cells function improperly causing you to lose consciousness, fall and convulse.
• Unequal or un-reactive pupils - Your pupils do not respond normally to light