Overview of Traumatic Brain Injury

Original Editor - Your name will be added here if you created the original content for this page.

Lead Editors  

Definition

Traumatic Brain Injury [TBI}, also known as Head Injury and Acquired Brain Injury [ABI], is defined as injury to the brain which occurred as a result of trauma, and is non-progressive.

It occurs when an external force impacts the brain, & often is caused by a blow, bump, jolt or penetrating wound to the head. However, not all blows or jolts to the head cause TBI: some just cause bony damage to the skull but do not cause brain injury.

Causes of TBI

The 2 most common causes of TBI are:

1. Falls  
2. Road Traffic Accident [RTA] This includes vehicle collisions, pedestrians being hit by a vehicle, vehicle-cyclist and car-motorcyclist collisions as well as bicycle and motorbike crashes which do not involve another vehicle.

Until recently, RTA was the primary cause of brain injury, but an international study published in 2013 reported that "falls have now surpassed road traffic incidents as the leading cause of this injury".

Incidence of TBI

One study found that TBI was "a major cause of death and disability on the United States, contributing to about 30% of all injury deaths".

A 2010 study looked at data from several nations, and reported that: "each year 235 000 Americans are hospitalized for non-fatal TBI, 1.1 million are treated in emergency departments, and 50 000 die. The northern Finland birth cohort found that 3.8% of the population had experienced at least 1 hospitalization due to TBI by 35 years of age. The Christchurch New Zealand birth cohort found that by 25 years of age 31.6% of the population had experienced at least 1 TBI, requiring medical attention (hospitalization, emergency department, or physician office). An estimated 43.3% of Americans have residual disability 1 year after injury. The most recent estimate of the prevalence of US civilian residents living with disability following hospitalization with TBI is 3.2 million."

Clinically Relevant Anatomy

add text here relating to clinically relevant anatomy of the condition

Mechanism of Injury / Pathological Process

Closed head injury

(often  occurs as a result of RTA, or a fall or blow to the head)

Open head injury

(from a penetrating wound)

Deceleration injury

(frequently occurs in RTA)

Clinical Presentation

add text here relating to the clinical presentation of the condition

Diagnostic Procedures

add text here relating to diagnostic tests for the condition

Outcome Measures

add links to outcome measures here (see Outcome Measures Database)

Management / Interventions

add text here relating to management approaches to the condition

Differential Diagnosis

add text here relating to the differential diagnosis of this condition

Key Evidence

add text here relating to key evidence with regards to any of the above headings

Resources

add appropriate resources here

Case Studies

add links to case studies here (case studies should be added on new pages using the case study template)

References

References will automatically be added here, see adding references tutorial.