The brain and spinal cord comprise the body’s intricate nervous system. Brain and spine work together to help human function. They both have many parts that are vulnerable to traumatic injury. The nervous system includes the spinal cord, nerves and brain. The brain is one of the largest and most complex organs and the spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure that begins at the end of the brain stem and continues down almost to the bottom of the spine in the human body.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES BY DR. SHAILESH JAIN
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow/ blast to the head or violent movement of the head. No open head wound or skull fracture or loss of consciousness is required for an injury to be classified as a Traumatic brain Injury or TBI.
How Do Doctors Explain the Severity of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
These three factors help doctors explain the severity of a traumatic brain injury to patients and their families:
Location of the injury: The injury may occur in four brain lobes, the cerebellum or any part of the brain stem. Injury can cause brain bleeding, swelling, tearing /rupture of nerve tissue, compression of nerve tissue and increased intracranial pressure in the injured area.
Loss of consciousness: Doctors classify traumatic brain injury as mild injuries, moderate injuries, or serious injuries. To determine the classification, doctors consider the length of time when the patient loses consciousness and the patient’s mental state when consciousness regains.
Level of response: The Glasgow Coma Score (GSC) measures the reactions or lack of reactions of a person experiencing traumatic brain injury (TBI). The information this test provides also helps doctors determine the level of brain injury.
What are the Effects of a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Traumatic brain injury patients experience a wide range of effects. Each patient is dissimilar and each injury produces different results. The list below provides a general description of the possible effects. Patients do not necessarily experience all of the listed effects. It is important to remember that, without experiencing the specific effects of patients, the effects of brain injury are severe and might be permanent.
Physical:
Difficulty with Movement
Speaking
Swallowing
Balance
Walking
Regulations of crucial signs –heart rate, blood pressure, breathing
Difficulty with sensory perception
Headaches
Blurred vision/double vision
Seizures
Difficulty with bowel and bladder control – it is related to “aphasia,” meaning an inability to process information due to brain injury
Changes in sleep patterns
Emotional:
Lack of insight and understanding about the injury
Depression
Anger
Anxiety
Agitation/impatience
Personality changes
Mood swings
Cognitive:
Confusion
Memory impairments/forgetfulness
Difficulty forming sentences/finding
vocabulary:
Difficulty thinking logically/reasoning/focusing
Difficulty concentrating
Daily Living/Behavioral:
Socially inappropriate behavior
Impulsivity
Poor social skills
Excessive talking
Dependent on others for help and care
When to see the Doctor?
According to Dr Shailesh Jain AIIMS Neurosurgeon, If you or your family member has received a blow to the head or body that concerns you or causes behavioral changes then directly Seek emergency medical care if there are any signs or symptoms of traumatic brain injury following a recent blow or other traumatic injury to the head. These brain injuries don’t take it lightly because a mild injury to the brain is still a serious injury that requires prompt attention and an accurate diagnosis.
SPINAL CORD INJURIES BY DR. SHAILESH JAIN
The brain sends and receives messages through the spinal cord and nerves (just like cars traveling east to west on a highway). The main messages are MOTOR and SENSORY. MOTOR messages help you to do things like move your arms/legs, dance and balance. SENSORY messages help you to feel things like pain, pressure, differentiate between hot and cold or rough and smooth. When someone sustains a spinal cord injury, it ruins the highway that closes down the system. Spinal cord injury is an injury to the spinal cord which blocks communication between the brain and the body. Because of the spinal cord injury sensory messages are not able to reach the brain and the brain cannot tell the muscles below the injury, how or when to move.
How Do Doctors Explain the Severity of a Spinal Cord Injury?
The Four descriptions of the patient’s injury help doctors explain the severity of a spinal cord injury to patients and their families:
The level (location on the spine) of the injury: The level of an injury is described in the section of the spinal column and number of the affected spinal nerve/vertebrae.
The amount of damage to the spinal cord: Doctors describe the amount of damage to the spinal cord using two terms: COMPLETE or INCOMPLETE.
Complete Injuries: Complete injuries cause damage that spreads through the entire spine. It will be like a wreck that closes all lanes of traffic. No message is able to get around the injury. This type of injury means that the patient has no movement (motor ability) or feeling (sensory ability) under the injury, and is unable to control the bowel or bladder.
Incomplete Injuries: Incomplete injuries cause partial damage to the spinal cord. This would be like a wreck on the highway that shuts down a few lanes of traffic, but not all. Some messages (Sensory or motor) may be able to get around the injury and this type of injury means that the patient may feel some movement or feeling under the injury.
Extent of paralysis: Paralysis is defined as loss of muscles movement as a result of damage or injury. Spinal cord injuries are divided into two types of paralysis.
Tetraplegia/Quadriplegia: In Quadriplegia, a person has partially or completely lost his/her all four limbs and torso. It’s a kind of paralysis situation, where you lose your sensation and control of your limbs ( Both legs and arms).
Paraplegia: Paraplegia can occur after a spinal cord injury. It’s caused by damage to the vertebrae/nerve, ligaments or disks of the spinal column. This will result in loss of movement and sensation in both legs, and loss of control over bowel and bladder.
The ASIA Scale score: The American Spinal Cord Injury Association (ASIA) has five classifications(ASIA A, ASIA B, ASIA C, ASIA D, ASIA E) describing the extent of spinal cord injury. These classifications are known as an ASIA Scale score. The patient’s motor and sensory movements determine the patient’s score on the scale. Patients with the most serious injury have a score of “ A.” Patients with no injury have a score of “E.”
What are the Effects of a Spinal Cord Injury?
Spinal cord injury patients experience a wide range of impacts/ Effects. Each patient is dissimilar; each injury creates different results. The list below provides a general list of potential Effects. Patients do not necessarily experience all the impacts listed below. Effects can be categorized as physical, emotional, and daily living. It is important to remember that, without experiencing the specific effects of patients, the effects of spinal cord injury are severe and permanent.
Physical:
Paralysis – inability to control motor and sensory movements
Weakened muscles above the location of the injury
Weakened breathing or sometimes require ventilator
Inability to cough – Help should be done
Inability to control bowel and bladder – Help should be done
Inability to control body temperature and blood pressure – requires constant monitoring/ Observation
Emotional:
Depression
Anger
Anxiety
Daily Living:
Requiring a wheelchair for the rest of life
Dependent on others for personal work and toilet use
Dependent on others for dressing
Dependent on others for food
When to see the Doctor?
According to Dr Shailesh Jain, Anyone who experiences significant trauma to his/ her head or neck needs immediate medical evaluation for the possibility of a spinal cord injury.
About the Neurosurgeon, Dr. Shailesh Jain –
Dr Shailesh Jain AIIMS Neurosurgeon is the Best doctor for head and spine injury in pitampura. He has been involved in numerous treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries. He is a principal consultant neurosurgeon and treats patients in his own neurology center at Arihant Neurospine Clinic as well as Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh Branch.
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