Many Florida brain injuries are caused by car accidents, Florida truck accidents, and other types of traffic accidents. The sheer force of a motor collision can cause the head to ricochet forward and backwards, causing injury. In some accidents, the victim is thrown about so violently that their head comes into contact with surfaces inside the car. In cases where a victim is not wearing a seat belt, the victim may be thrown about the inside of a car or even ejected, causing even more serious brain injuries and other types of injuries. Many Florida spinal cord injuries, for example, are caused by patients being thrown through the windshield during a car accident.
Just as there are many types of car accidents, there are also many types of traumatic brain injuries which can be caused by a car accident:
1) Diffuse Axonal Injuries. These injuries occur when a patient is shaken violently. Since the brain is a soft mass, it moves much more quickly than the exterior skull, and this leads to tears and injuries to the brain structures. When brain nerve tissue is torn, chemicals from the brain are sometimes released, causing even more serious injury. In this type of injury, the chemical and communication processes of the brain cannot work correctly, leading to brain damage, coma or even fatalities.
2) Concussions. Concussions, considered complex neurobehavioral syndromes, can occur either as a direct blow to the head or as a result of very violent shaking of the head. Among traumatic brain injuries, this is the most common injury. Concussions can be difficult to diagnose because CAT scans cannot always discover a concussion and patients have different symptoms. Some patients, for example, lose consciousness for up to twenty minutes while others remain awake. In some cases, concussions can also include brain swelling, bleeding, or fractures of the skill. Some concussions can be effectively treated while others can cause permanent brain damage.
3) Contusions. This type of injury is caused by a direct blow to the head. This type of traumatic brain injury effectively causes a bleeding bruise on the brain. In cases where a large contusion forms, surgery may be needed to remove it.
4) Coup-Contrecoup Injury. These injuries are contusions – a bleeding bruise on the brain – but ones which occur at both sides of a brain. Coup-Contrecoup occur when a violent blow to the head causes a bruise where the head is impacted and a second bruise on the opposite side of the brain, where the brain bounces off the hard skull.
5) Recurrent Traumatic Brain Injury. This type of injury occurs when a person who is recovering from one brain injury sustains a second injury. A second injury before the brain has had a chance to heal usually means more damage as well as swelling of the brain. A second injury can cause death quickly, so this is considered a medical emergency, even if the second brain injury seems less serious than the first. Symptoms of recurrent traumatic brain injury can include hallucinations, emotional problems, muscle spasm or contractions, and difficulty learning or thinking clearly.
6) Penetration Injury. If a blunt object penetrates the skull during a Florida road accident, this is known as a penetration injury. This type of injury pushes bone, the object itself, skin, and hair into the brain, causing severe damage.