TBI Brain Injury Compensation Claim Solicitors
A brain injury is also called a traumatic brain injury, head injury, TBI, head trauma or an acquired brain injury. Millions of people sustain a brain injury from falls, motor vehicle accidents, motor cycle accidents, sports injuries, and other types of accidents or injuries. More than half of all traumatic brain injuries require hospitalization and very serious injuries lead to death.
Half of all traumatic brain injuries are sustained in motor vehicle accidents. Brain injuries are also common in military personnel. While an individual can know they have had a head injury right away, some are not apparent until days or weeks after the injury. Most serious brain injuries need emergency treatment and some require surgery. Physical therapy and rehabilitation are required in some circumstances, especially if there has been a deficit in functioning following the injury.
Brain injury compensation claim solicitors deal with applications for awards of damages for personal injury. Compensation is paid in full with no deductions. We do not ask you to fund or finance the claim as it proceeds. If you would like free legal advice with no further obligation just call the helpline, email our offices or use the contact form.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topTypes of Brain Injuries
There are several types of brain injuries. A concussion involves a jarring injury to the brain. The individual may or may not pass out for a short period of time and may lose balance or vision and will feel dazed after the injury. Most concussions are self limited and resolve on their own. A brain contusion is severe enough to cause bruising to the brain tissue. There is swelling and some degree of bleeding in the brain. A skull fracture occurs when there is a break in the skull itself. The edges of broken skull bones can cut into the brain and cause brain bleeding or other damage to the brain. A hematoma happens when there is bleeding around the brain or within the brain itself. It forms a blood clot that pushes pressure on the brain. It may take several days or weeks to identify a hematoma on the brain.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topSymptoms of Brain Injuries
A brain injury can have many symptoms. Headache is a common symptom as are dizziness, blurry vision and lethargy. There can be sudden or delayed loss of consciousness. Mild traumatic brain injuries can cause fatigue, headaches, memory loss, visual changes, limited concentration, sleep disturbances, loss of balance, irritability or emotional disturbances and feelings of depression.
A severe brain injury is defined as a loss of consciousness of greater than six hours and a Glasgow Coma Scale of 3-8 (to be discussed below). Symptoms depend on the severity of the initial injury and the functions of the brain affected. There can be severe cognitive deficits, language and speech deficits, including reading deficits, sensory deficits, perceptual deficits, partial or total loss of vision or blurry vision, light intolerance, hearing deficits, smell deficits, taste deficits, seizures (extremely common), physical changes, including paralysis, spasticity, chronic pain, bladder and bowel problems or problems regulating the body temperature, and social or emotional changes.
Our brain injury compensation claim solicitors also deal with applications for awards of damages for personal injury on the basis of miss-diagnosis by healthcare professionals which can cause a worsening of the initial problem.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topGlasgow Coma Scale
This is a measurement used by emergency-trained personnel to relay the seriousness of a head or brain injury. The score is measured in the following way :-
- no response
- extensor response, i.e. decerebrate posturing
- abnormal flexion, i.e. decorticate posturing
- withdraws from noxious stimuli
- localizes to noxious stimuli
- obeys commands fully
- no sounds
- incomprehensible sounds
- inappropriate words and jumbled phrases
- confused, yet coherent, speech consisting of words
- alert and Oriented
- no eye opening
- eyes open to pain
- eyes open to speech
- eyes open to speech
- spontaneous eye opening
Motor Response :-
Verbal Response :-
Eye Opening :-
A mild head injury is defined as a score of 13-15. A moderate head injury is defined as a score of 9-12. A Severe head injury is defined as a score of 3-8 and a vegetative state is defined as a score of less than three. This Coma Score can be used in the acute phase of an illness or in the discussion of more chronic states of brain trauma.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topCauses of Brain Trauma
Most cases of brain trauma come from motor vehicle accidents or motorcycle accidents. They can also come from falls out of windows, sports injuries, other types of falls and blunt head trauma in a fight or altercation. People who bicycle or motorcycle without helmets and those who do not wear seat belts in automobiles are at the highest risk of brain trauma.
Brain injury compensation claim solicitors deal with applications for awards of damages for personal injury on the basis of third party negligence including road traffic accidents, trips & slips and accidents at work particularly those involving falls from height and unguarded trap doors.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topTreatment of Brain Trauma
The treatment of brain trauma depends on how severe the problem is. For example, if a person is suffering from a minor concussion, medications to control headache and rest are all that is required. More severe brain injuries require hospitalization and significant treatment.
Surgery is required if there is brain swelling and a brain bleed that is not stopping on its own and is putting pressure on the brain. Sometimes a burr hole can be put into the skull, which is a hole drilled in the bone in order to release the pressure and allow the bleeding to come to the outside of the brain instead of the inside. In other situations, a craniotomy is needed. This is surgery where a larger section of skull is removed in order to get rid of hematomas and control bleeding. Depending on the amount of swelling, the piece of skull removed may be replaced and sutured back into its regular position or can be just set in place, to be sutured or stapled in place at a later time. Subdural hematomas, epidural hematomas and subarachnoid hemorrhages are often treated with emergency surgery to reduce bleeding and evacuate the blood from the spaces in the brain.
Medical treatment of a brain injury includes using pain medication to relieve headache. Seizure medications are used to prevent and control seizures. Mannitol is a medication used to reduce pressure in the brain, which can prevent a serious brain herniation. Steroids are used to reduce inflammation. If the blood pressure is too high in situations where there is bleeding on the brain, blood pressure medication is used to reduce the blood pressure. Nitroprusside is a common drug used for this purpose.
Once the head injury is stable, rehabilitation is put into place to improve the functionality of the person suffering from the head injury. This means hours of physical and occupational therapy to resume the skills the person once had before the injury took place.
SOLICITORS HELPLINE 1800 339 958
^^ back to the topBrain Injury Compensation Solicitors
Our brain injury solicitors deal with legal action for both personal injury using the no win no fee scheme. Compensation is paid in full with no deductions. We do not ask you to fund or finance the claim as it proceeds. If you would like free legal advice with no further obligation just call the helpline, email our offices or use the contact form.
This website is not intended for viewing or consideration by residents of Queensland. QLD law prohibits the advertising of personal injury legal services in Queensland. If you were injured in Queensland or if you are a resident of Queensland we are unable to refer you to a legal practitioner. Our legal service is not available for any QLD accident claims or accident claims connected with QLD. The content of this website does not apply to residents of Queensland or to accident claims arising in Queensland nor to accident claims connected with Queensland. This website operates by way of referral and the proprietors are not involved in legal practice. The proprietors may charge a fee to a lawyer receiving instructions in relation to your enquiry which is governed by a separate private agreement between the proprietors of the website and the legal practitioner.