brain injury

Question 1

common facts about the brain

Answer 1

• The brain sits in the cranial vault which is a fixed space. The brain is 80% of the volume space, blood is 10% and cerebral spinal fluid is 10%
• Changes in this volume will increase intracranial pressure and when this increases it puts pressure on the brain and causes damage to neurons
• GLASGOW coma scale is used to check consciousness. Made of 3 parts: eye-opening, verbal, and motor responses. Marked from 3-15

Question 2

what is traumatic brain injury

Answer 2

• blunt or closed injury- no break in the skull
• penetrating injury- break in the skull

Question 3

what is a focal injury

Answer 3

• localised points of injury. can be due to blunt or penetrating trauma
• contusion (brain tissue damage). two different parts and with both there is compression and shearing (stretching) damage
  1. coup injury- injury at the initial impact point
  2. contrecoup injury- an injury that occurs due to rebound
• hematoma- clotted blood collection and can be;
• epidural
• subdural
• subarachnoid
• intercerebral

Question 4

what is primary and secondary injury

Answer 4

• primary- all the initial damage
• secondary- the flow on results- inflammation, bleeding, swelling, oedema

Question 5

what is diffuse injury

Answer 5

• Widespread neuronal injury
• concussion (various severity of alterations to consciousness) to diffuse axonal injury (damage to axons due to significant shearing forced leading to lesion formation throughout the white matter tracts which leads to a coma)
• This causes alterations in AP transmission and excitotoxicity which lead to further damage and neuronal death

Question 6

management of brain trauma

Answer 6

• Checking GCS and other neurological assessments
• Evaluate and monitor intracranial pressure
• Ongoing support