The History Matters in Traumatic Brain Injuries
I’m Ed Smith, an Orangevale Brain Injury Lawyer. There are many different ways that someone might suffer a brain injury and the history and mechanism of this injury are vital in a decision-making process. When a patient comes to either an emergency department or a clinic, a physician is going to take a detailed history that will guide the next steps in the treatment process.
The Medical History in a Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury is typically the result of a strong external force that acts on either the skull or the brain tissue directly. The physician is first going to take a patient’s history. The physician is going to ask about the mechanism and the cause of a traumatic brain injury to try and figure out what type of neurological insult the patient is dealing with. This could involve an auto accident, a slip and fall injury, or any number of other mechanisms.
The Timeline of Symptom Development
Next, the physician will ask a patient about the symptoms they are experiencing. This could include anything from pain over the scalp to a potential loss of consciousness. Other symptoms could include changes in their vision or hearing. In addition to the type of symptoms, the physician is going to want to know when the symptoms developed. Did they all start at the same time or did they come on gradually? This is going to be important in tracking the progression of the injury. If the symptoms are worsening, this is a concerning sign.
Guiding the Decision-Making Process
The reason why the physician is going to take a detailed history is to guide the diagnosis and treatment plan for a traumatic brain injury. Some patients could be sent home and told to rest. Other patients could be sent back to imaging, such as a MRI scan. Patients with emergent symptoms may be whisked back to an operating room for immediate neurosurgery. None of these decisions can be made quickly or accurately without a detailed history. This history will also be important if a patient needs to consult a legal advocate down the line.
Contact an Experienced Orangevale Brain Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, an Orangevale Brain Injury Lawyer. If you or a loved one suffered a traumatic brain injury in an accident, please give me a call at (916) 921-6400 for friendly, free legal advice. If calling from beyond the vicinity of Orangevale, take note of my toll-free line, which is (800) 404-5400.
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Image Source: The MRI scan from the start was printed first on Wikimedia Commons and has been recycled under permission of the GNU Free Documentation License
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