What does a Brain Injury Look Like?

Finding a brain injury can be quite tricky.  You cannot see the brain as it is completely covered by solid bone.  Sometimes the symptoms of a brain injury are evident immediately, but often the changes don’t surface until days, weeks, or months after an injury.  Contrary to popular notion getting knocked out (loss of consciousness) or how long you were knocked out, is a poor predictor of the presence or severity of a brain injury.  Loss of consciousness is more dependent on the area of the brain affected rather than the severity of the injury.  Yes, you can have a severe brain injury and never lose consciousness.  Here are some signs and symptoms that often occur with brain injury.

•    The patient may remain conscious or lose it for a few seconds or minutes
•    The person may feel dazed or not like himself for weeks after the injury
•    Frequent headaches
•    Confusion, change in memory, problems with concentration
•    Lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision, double vision
•    Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
•    An unusual taste in the mouth
•    Daily fatigue
•    A change in sleep patterns (may sleep too much or may not be able to go to sleep)
•    Mood and behavior changes
•    Impulsive behavior
•    Impaired judgment
•    Communication problems
•    Loss of balance, weakness in the legs or arms
•    Slurred or slow speech
•    Confusion, amnesia for events that happened several hours to days after the injury
•    Anxiety, restlessness, agitation
•    Nausea

Small children or infants who experience a brain injury may show some of the above symptoms as well as:

•    Continual crying with the inability to be consoled
•    Refusal to nurse or eat

SPECT is one of the best tools in identifying and documenting brain injury.  SPECT is endorsed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) for evaluating suspected brain trauma.

Symptoms of a brain injury do not always appear immediately, but may emerge days, weeks, or months after an incident.  CT scans (often performed in the emergency department immediately after a head trauma) are great for identifying skull fractures and/or brain hemorrhaging (bleeding).  However, many brain injuries are more akin to a bruise—anatomical studies such as CT/MRI often miss these types of injuries.

SPECT imaging helps identify the presence of brain injury.  It is also a great tool for measuring brain healing and treatment effectiveness over time, as well as quantifying a person’s long term prognosis.
Here is some news about brain injuries today that may just surprise you!