Which Kids Recover from a Brain Injury Faster?
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer. Many people have focused on traumatic brain injuries in sports and these injuries impact professionals and kids alike. Research regarding kids and brain injuries has been a recent area of focus in the medical world. Specifically, is there a way to tell how long a child will take to recover from traumatic brain injuries? A recent research study sought to answer this very question.
Targeting Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders
It is understandable for parents and physicians to worry when a child starts showing symptoms of a traumatic brain injury, While the different types of traumatic brain injuries impact how long a child takes to recover, there are other factors that play a role in the recovery time as well. Historically, it has been difficult to predict how long a child will take to recover from a brain injury. Two patients who have suffered the same injury could take significantly different recovery paths. A researcher out of the University of Southern California studied a biomarker that could hold potential as a tool for gauging recovery times of children.
The Study Followed Patients in Intensive Care
The California researchers studied over twenty kids that ranged in ages from eight years old to 18. The kids were patients in intensive care units at various hospitals across the area. Some kids were injured in bike accidents while others were hurt in pedestrian accidents and other types of injuries. These kids were compared to about twenty children who had not suffered a brain injury. The children were analyzed using a special type of MRI scan (called diffusion-weighted MRI) at various points after their injuries. The kids also had EEG scans performed to measure their brain waves a few months after the injuries had been sustained. The EEG measured the transfer of brain waves across the corpus callosum. A few months following their injuries, some of the kids who had been injured had slow transfer times while other kids had transfer times that were close to normal.
Implications for Future Prognoses
After patients have been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, the recovery process can take various forms. Based on the study results above, the kids who had faster transfer times seemed to be recovering quicker. Therefore, in the future, it may be possible to measure transfer times using an EEG to guide parents and patients in the recovery process. Kids with faster transfer times were recovering quicker. While more research still needs to be done, this is a good first step. Perhaps, in the future, there might be ways to increase transfer times of kids and improve the recovery process.
Related Articles by Ed Smith ~
Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer, Ed Smith
Contact an Experienced Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer. Traumatic brain injuries of kids are an area of significant concern for their families and the medical community at large. Anyone with a child who has suffered a traumatic brain injury should call me today at (916) 921-6400 for free and friendly advice. Parents who contact this office from beyond the local Sacramento area are welcome to call my toll-free number, available at (800) 404-5400.
I am a member of the forum for Million Dollar Advocates in the California area. This group includes injury attorneys who have been ranked among some of the country’s top trial lawyers. The members of this group have won verdicts or settled cases valued at over $1 Million Dollars.
Please view my prior settlements and verdicts here.
My client reviews and ratings can be found on the following websites:
Source: American Academy of Neurology, published in 2017
Image Source: via Wikimedia Commons, used with permission under the GNU Free Documentation License
:dr ab bw cv