subject: Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury [print this page] Anything that causes an impact to or sudden motion of the brain can lead to a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Your brain is not firmly anchored in your skull, but is surrounded by a layer of cerebrospinal fluida clear, watery liquid that cushions the brain and spinal cord, protecting them from impact with the surrounding skeletal systems.
In a brain injury caused by sudden motion (like slamming your head backwards if your car is rear-ended), the quick acceleration and deceleration can make your brain bounce against your skull. An impact can directly damage the brain as well as cause the brain to displace the cerebrospinal fluid and bounce against the skull.
Penetrating injuries (usually bullet or shrapnel wounds) can cause further damage by sending shockwaves along the path of the projectile, damaging even more brain tissue. And almost any of the common causes of TBI can also lead to intracranial bleeding, resulting in increased pressure inside the skull.
Most common causes of TBI among civilians
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the single greatest cause of a trauamtic brain injury, leading to 35.2 percent of all recorded cases. You do not have to fall far to suffer a TBI. Simply tripping and landing the wrong way can be enough to cause a traumatic brain injury.
Motor vehicle accidents (17.3 percent)
Striking your head against something or being struck by something (16.5 percent)
Assault (10 percent)
Other and unknown (21 percent)
Other types of brain injuries, classified as acquired brain injuries (ABI), occur when the brain is damaged without any external impact or acceleration. ABIs include brain damage caused by strokes, internal hemorrhages, chemicals or toxins, certain bacterial and viral infections, starvation, or hypoxia (lack of oxygen) due to injury to another part of the body, fire, or near-drowning.
Sports and head injuries
Growing evidence tends to show that contact sports, especially football, bear responsibility for hundreds of thousands of head injuries each year. The National Football League (NFL) even recently found itself on the defensive at Congressional hearings for allowing players who had sustained concussions to return to play, and anecdotal evidence from retired players and their friends and family suggests that head injuries sustained during professional play plague players for the rest of their lives.
Causes of Traumatic Brain Injury
By: Greer Nade
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