Types of Head Injuries:
The two basic types of head injury are: "open head
injury" and "closed head injury." Open head injuries are caused by
penetrating objects. Closed head injuries are the most common and
are usually caused by a rapid movement of the head during which the
brain is whipped back and forth, bouncing off the inside of the
skull. Another major cause of brain injury is "anoxia" or loss of
oxygen to the brain.
Moderate to Severe Brain Injury:
Almost always results in loss of consciousness
lasting days to weeks or longer. Although persons surviving moderate
to severe TBIs can make significant improvements in the first year
after injury and continue to improve at a slower pace for many
years, they are often left with some permanent physical and/or
cognitive impairments.
Mild Brain Injury, or "Concussion,":
The person may feel dazed or experience a brief
loss of consciousness. Mild brain injury can lead to headaches,
dizziness, mild mental slowing, and fatigue.
What are the Causes of Traumatic Brain
Injury?:
- In Mississippi, motor vehicle accidents cause
48% of all TBI’s, violence 33%, and 19% falls.
- Child abuse is the most common violent cause of
TBI in infants and toddlers.
- Each year in the United States, 130,000
children sustain bicycle related brain injuries, and of these, 900
die.
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury:
Approximately 11,000 Americans are hospitalized
for a spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. SCIs cost the nation an
estimated $9.7 billion each year. Approximately 145 Mississippians
are hospitalized for spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. More than
half of the people who sustain SCIs are 16 to 30 years old. Males,
especially young black males, are at highest risk and are four times
more likely than females to sustain a spinal cord injury.
A spinal cord injury is damage to the spinal cord
resulting in loss of sensation and motor control. The extent to
which movement and sensation are damaged depends on the level of the
spinal cord injury. Approximately 10,000 new spinal cord injuries
(SCI) occur each year in the United States. About 250,000 people are
currently affected. Spinal cord injuries can happen to anyone at any
time in life. The typical patient, however, is a man between the
ages of 19 and 26. Approximately 145 Mississippians are hospitalized
each year due to a spinal cord injury.
Short-term costs for hospitalization, equipment,
and home modifications are approximately $140,000 for a SCI patient
capable of independent living. Lifetime costs may exceed $1 million.
Costs may be three to four times higher for the SCI patient who
needs long-term institutional care. Overall costs to the American
economy in direct payments and lost productivity are more than $10
billion per year.
Major Causes of Spinal Cord Injury:
Motor vehicle accidents 45% are the leading cause
of SCI’s nationwide as well as in Mississippi, following motor
vehicle accidents are violence 28%, falls 21%, and sporting or
recreational accident 6%. People over the age of 65 sustain SCIs due
to falls.
Recreational activities, especially diving
accidents are the leading cause of SCIs for people under the age of
25. Alcohol or other drug abuse plays an important role in a large
percentage of all spinal cord injuries. 6% of people who receive
injuries to the lower spine die within a year, and 40% of people who
receive the more frequent higher injuries die within a year.
More than 95% of all traumatic spinal cord
injuries are preventable. The only known cure for spinal cord
injuries is prevention.
