Head injuries scan be divided into two basic types – open and closed head injuries. In an open head injury, the boney structure of the skull is penetrated. A closed head injury means that a blunt trauma to the skull has occurred without penetrating it. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, approximately one and half million people each year suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in the United States.
More than 50,000 of these individuals who suffer TBIs are fatally injured. For the surviving family members of those who have suffered a head injury, their lives and those of their families are forever changed. A head injury can affect physical abilities, cognitive functioning and personality changes.
There are very many causes of head injuries. Head injuries can be caused by falls, assaults, automobile accidents, work injuries, blunt strikes to the head and a host of other possibilities.
In a head injury, a person can suffer from infections, oxygen deprivation and strokes. Infectious processes like encephalitis and meningitis can cause loss of brain tissue resulting in brain damage. These infections can be fatal.
Head injuries range from the mild to the traumatic. Head injuries can be as slight as a bump to the head or a catastrophic as an open wound to the head. Head injuries can cause memory loss, learning and cognitive impairment as well as speech loss.
Head injuries or brain injuries are often times permanent in the physical or mental loss of capacity. The cause of a head injury could arise from a work injury or a car accident. Motor vehicle accidents causing head injuries or traumatic brain injury are common. In car a crash the thrust of the vehicle coming to an abrupt, unexpected stop may force the soft tissues surrounding jelly-like consistency of the brain into hard shell of the skull. This force of movement is a likely cause of a brain injury from a car or truck collision.
Brain injuries occur as a result of medical malpractice or nursing abuse as well. Brain injuries can damage a patient undergoing surgery when their ventilation is compromised errantly or in an obstetrical setting in child birth when the newborn is brain damaged because of the lack of oxygen during labor or in a nursing home when a resident is overlooked and falls striking their head or is given the wrong medication that causes a prolonged loss of consciousness and thus brain damage.
Head injuries are generally classified as being one of the closed head injury or an open head injury. A closed head injury may result from a whiplash or a fall striking the head. These traumas can be very serious. A concussion would fall under this category. In one of Kreisman Law Offices cases a construction site object fell from a height of 20 plus feet and struck our client on the head as he passed by. He suffered a damaging head injury that was concussion. He did not lose consciousness, but did suffer persistent brain swelling that can be fatal. Closed head injuries are very serious because sometimes internal bleeding occurs and possible permanent brain damage is caused.
An open head injury is one where the skull is fractured or an object actually penetrates the hard surface of the skull pressing on the delicate content of the brain. A linear skull fracture is which crack the skull. In some traumatic cases a particle of bone of the skull can penetrate the brain’s surface. This kind of injury is common is car crashes and work injuries.
A traumatic brain injury occurs when a physical trauma strikes the head and causes some form of brain injury or damage. It could occur because of a blow to the head. The result could be mental or physical disability, paralysis, coma or death.
Injuries the head and brain are very serious. Any blow to the head must be examined by physician.
If you or someone you know or love has been involved in a traumatic head injury, please call us for an immediate free consultation. Robert Kreisman of Kreisman Law Offices has been handling Chicago and Illinois traumatic head and brain injury cases for more than 40 years.
Kreisman Law Offices has prevailed in trials and settlements in Chicago, Illinois and surrounding areas and successfully resolved cases for severely injured clients for over these many years.
With our years of experience in trying and settling head and brain injury cases, Kreisman Law Offices provides the best possible services to our clients and have achieved unsurpassed results. Our service is unmatched. Please call us 24 hours a day at 312.346.0045 or toll free 800.583.8002 for a free and immediate consultation, or complete a contact form online. There is no charge for a consultation that will include an evaluation of your case, assessment of your damages such as lost income, lost wages, medical and hospital bills, past and future pain and suffering, loss of normal life and wrongful death.