Toronto Personal Injury Lawer Blog - Findlay Law

The head can be injured without the brain necessarily being also injured. But typically, when there is a strong impact to the head, the brain is injured, either :

• By being slammed against the inside of the skull and bruised; or
  
• By being pierced by something that penetrates the skull
  

When the brain is bruised, fluid collects in the area causing swelling. This can be very painful, since there is little room inside the skull for expansion of the brain. It can also cause secondary brain damage on top of the original damage.

Bruising is actually bleeding of very tiny blood vessels. A head trauma can also cause more copious bleeding of brain tissue. That causes a buildup of blood, since the skull cannot expand, and that build-up in turn can cause secondary injury by creating pressure on the brain.

Brain Injury Demands Careful Medical Care
The potential for secondary injury makes each brain injury individual and complex. There are classifications of brain injury into mild, moderate, and severe categories and this can be helpful in planning treatment. But each brain injury must also be looked at as unique.

By the time the injured person is receiving medical care, the original injury is past history. That damage is done. But secondary injury can be prevented if medical workers are attentive and take the right precautions. When they are inattentive or careless in the initial treatment of a brain injury patient, there might be a valid claim for medical malpractice.

Most fatal brain injuries do not kill immediately, but after days or weeks. Those days and weeks are the time when secondary injury can develop without anyone realizing it.

• The brain may be receiving too little oxygen
  
• The patient may have a stroke
  
• Body organs may become dysfunctional or non-functional, such as the kidneys or liver
  
• Blood pressure may become too low
  
• Carbon dioxide levels in the blood may become too high
  

Skilled and attentive medical professionals can anticipate these developments and take measures to prevent them. However, when they do not and a wrongful death occurs, they may be held liable.

If you or a loved one have sustained a severe brain injury and would like to know more about your legal rights and options, please call or email our brain injury lawyers today for a free consultation.