Someone can suffer brain damage in different ways, ranging from genetic disorders to strokes and everything in between. One of the most abrupt causes of brain injury involves a traumatic event that directly damages the neurological tissue.

If you or a family member has sustained severe head trauma in an accident due to negligence, please call our experienced Davis brain injury attorneys today at (530) 392-5400 for free, friendly, and compassionate advice.

A traumatic brain injury occurs when a physical force either directly or indirectly causes damage to the brain tissue inside the skull. There are various causes of brain injuries, including:

• Blunt Force Trauma: Blunt force trauma involves a solid object that does not penetrate the skull itself but causes an impact on the head that indirectly impacts the tissue inside. Blunt force trauma includes physical assault (with a baseball bat or golf club), a car accident, or even a pedestrian injury. Because the skull is a hard surface, it can cause a bruise or bleed in the brain tissue, just as in other areas of the body. Blunt force trauma may also cause a skull fracture. These bone fragments could also damage the brain matter, similar to penetrating trauma.
• Penetrating Trauma: The other category of trauma to the brain is called penetrating trauma. Penetrating trauma involves a sharp object, such as a knife or bullet, breaking through the skull cranium and causing direct damage to the brain tissue underneath. While this does cause a skull fracture, the tearing of brain tissue by the object causes the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury. The symptoms will vary depending on the location of the brain damage; however, bleeding will occur with this type of brain injury.

Bleeding can develop with all different types of traumatic brain injuries. Bleeding in the brain is serious because of the blood loss and because the blood will pool and take up space in a closed cavity. 

Because there is a finite space inside the skull, it is possible that the brain could get squeezed out of the head, leading to serious (and, many times, fatal) consequences. 

The three common types of brain bleeds are:

• Epidural Hematoma: This is one of the most common traumatic brain injuries. It is also one of the most dangerous. This develops from trauma to the temple region of the skull that shears the middle meningeal artery, a blood vessel that supplies oxygen to the brain. This injury is from the bleed between the skull and the dura mater. The dura mater is a case of fascia that protects the brain. This brain injury is diagnosed with a CT scan that will show a “lens” shaped (convex) bleed. This bleed is particularly dangerous because patients will permanently lose consciousness, wake up, and then lose consciousness. The lucid period has called this injury a “walk, talk, die” hematoma.
• Subdural Hematoma: An acute subdural hematoma is highly deadly because of the type of force it requires to cause it. A tremendous force is required to cause this injury, such as a person being thrown from a car with their head impacting the pavement. Subdural hematoma shears open many veins that supply the brain, and blood pools outside the brain. This will show as a concave bleed on a CT scan, contrasting it with the epidural hematoma above. The symptoms will gradually crescendo as the bleed crowds out the brain tissue. Symptoms include headache, confusion, vomiting, and worsening symptoms over time, contrasting with the earlier epidural hematoma.
• Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A subarachnoid hemorrhage develops when trauma tears an artery near the Circle of Willis, a network of arteries that feed blood to the brain. The tear is often in a pre-existing aneurysm. Patients will describe the onset as a “thunderclap headache” or the “worst headache of their life.” There is not a gradual crescendo or a lucid interval. A CT scan will demonstrate bleeding in the middle of the brain, contrasting it with the epidural and subdural hematomas above.

When patients suffer a brain bleed, the first step is to make more space for the brain and prevent herniation. This requires removing the blood that has already pooled, increasing the size of the skull cavity, and giving the brain room to swell in response to trauma.

Neurosurgeons will perform a procedure called a craniotomy. They will remove a skull flap (a piece of the bone itself) so that the brain has room to swell. They will also remove the pooled blood and stop any bleeding if bleeding continues. 

Once the brain has reduced to its average size, it will replace the skull flap and allow the injury to heal.

As the patient recovers, their prognosis will become apparent as a new baseline for their mental and physical function level is established.

In the video below, Dr. Robert Fenstermaker with the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center discusses the recovery process following a craniotomy.

A Davis, CA brain injury lawyer can assist you during this difficult time by determining if another person is at fault for causing your traumatic brain injury.  If it is determined that someone’s negligence caused your injuries, you are entitled to recover compensation from this individual.

An experienced brain injury attorney in Davis, CA, can also help you obtain the medical records you need to prove your case. The lawyer will accurately document all of your past and future expenses and the losses you have incurred.