Brain Bleeding in Children is a Serious Problem
I’m Ed Smith, a Personal Injury Lawyer in Sacramento. In recent years, there has been a significant amount of focus on traumatic brain injuries and the various brain bleeds, particularly in adults; however, these can also be serious problems for children. When children suffer some form of neurological insult, it can have adverse effects because their brains are still developing. For this reason, a team of researchers took their talents to the databanks to try and draw some conclusions regarding bleeding of the brain in children.
How do Brain Bleeds Occur?
Among the area of traumatic brain injuries, brain bleeds are among the most severe. There are many different ways that these catastrophic personal injuries can occur. For example, patients could suffer some sort of blunt trauma that leads to skull fractures and bleeding within the intracranial cavity. This could be due to a slip and fall injury or an auto accident. Other possible mechanisms include penetrating injuries, such as a physical assault of some sort. These injuries can slice through the skull and severe some of the arteries and veins in the brain, leading to bleeding in the intracranial cavity. If a patient starts bleeding in their brain, this can lead to a dramatic increase in the intracranial pressure. This pressure doesn’t have any place to go because the skull cavity is a closed space. This means that the brain tissue is at risk of herniation, where brain tissue evacuates the skull cavity through one of the orifices. If this happens, this can lead to severe brain damage and, possibly, a wrongful death.
What are some Types of Brain Bleeds?
There are many different types of brain bleeds that a patient could suffer from. One of the most common types is called an epidural hematoma. This happens when a strong external force makes contact with the temple of a patient. This could lead to damage to the middle meningeal artery. This fluid will start to leak out and will appear to have a lens-shaped pattern on a CT scan. Patients often do not exhibit any symptoms of this injury until they pass out, never to wake up again.
Another type of brain bleed is called a subdural hematoma. If this injury happens acutely, it is due to a tremendous amount of force. This injury is a rupture of the bridging veins and is often seen when someone is ejected through the windshield of a car, leading to a large amount of external trauma when they strike the pavement. This is typically a devastating injury with a particularly poor prognosis.
A third type of bleed is called a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Patients often present with this type of injury complaining of the “worst headache of their life,” and will often describe it as a “thunderclap headache.” All of these are very different injuries can have different prognoses depending on their severity.
The Research Study
A team of medical professionals put together a research study that took a look at some of the children in their hospital who had suffered brain bleeds. They wanted to evaluate the types of patients, the symptoms that they experienced, and the outcomes of the children in their hospital. Over a period of ten years, they went through over fifty patients and looked for trends. Most of the patients that they saw were male and the average age of the patients was ten years of age. Most patients stayed for about one week. The two most common mechanisms of injury leading to these brain bleeds in children were falls from a great height and accidents involving bicycles. About forty percent of the patients suffering a brain bleed had presenting symptoms and about a third had skull fractures associated with those injuries. About ten percent of the patients had additional injuries. Almost three-quarters of the patients required a trip to neurosurgery to evacuate the bleeding in their brain.
Future Studies and Directions
Brain bleeds occurring in children is a devastating medical problem that nobody should ever have to deal with. When it does happen, it is important to know what to do. Future studies will take a look at the different treatment options and evaluate what types of treatments result in the most positive outcomes. If someone does happen to have a child with a brain bleed, this can lead to lifelong complications that will require chronic medical care. This can lead to a tremendous amount of financial stress that a family could have trouble dealing with. Examples of possible costs include:
Surgery Costs: Neurosurgery can be an expensive venture. While it is necessary in some cases and can be a life-saving procedure, some insurance companies may not cover it.
Recovery Costs: After the procedure is finished, many patients require visits to physical therapy. These may or may not be covered by health insurance.
Medications: Some patients wind up having to take medications for the rest of their life as a result of complications due to their injuries. Eventually, families may reach their lifetime cap.
In this situation, a consultation with an experienced Sacramento personal injury lawyer can help people learn about their legal options and can help reduce the amount of financial stress on a family.
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Personal Injury Lawyer in Sacramento
I’m Ed Smith, a Personal Injury Lawyer in Sacramento. If your child has suffered any neurological damage, please call on me for free, compassionate and friendly legal advice at (916) 921-6400 or toll-free at (800) 404-5400.
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Image Source: This radiology scan from the top was reused under permission of the 3.0 version of the CC BY SA License, found first on Wikimedia Commons.
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