Michigan brain injury lawyers frequently represent clients who have suffered coma from traumatic brain injuries.  A detailed knowledge and understanding of those injuries, their treatment, and their affect on the client is essential to achieving the best possible settlement for the injured client.

Most of us have seen patients who lie in a state of coma for weeks or months on end. We may not know however what kind of head trauma or traumatic brain injury the patient may have sustained that resulted in such a vegetative state. Coma can happen as an expected sequence of an ailment, or as a result of head trauma injury or traumatic brain injury.

Coma from traumatic brain injury is perhaps one of the most unfortunate events in life. The comatose individual is alive in the sense that he or she can not be declared ‘dead’, medically speaking. Yet, the person cannot respond to any stimulus and is considered to be in a profound state of unconsciousness.

Coma from traumatic brain injury usually followed by a state called persistent vegetative state, where the individual loses his cognitive abilities as well as complete awareness of the world around him. He however retains the abilities of non-cognitive functioning and goes through a regular sleep-wake cycle denoting that there is still life within.

Colloquially speaking, people often describe such conditions as ‘technically alive but clinically dead’. This layman’s description is not entirely true, in the sense that the individual in a persistent vegetative state loses some of the higher responsibilities of the brain but retains his ability to breath. Even his blood circulation, even in a state of coma after a grievous head and traumatic brain injury can show that the brainstem is more or less in an operational state.

The eyes of the patient may open up occasionally responding to an external stimulus, but he or she is incapable of talking or doing what he is told to do. Appearing normal most of the time, such individuals may also grin or cry at times despite being in a coma after a traumatic brain injury.

The course of treatment for coma resulting from closed head and traumatic brain injuries

For treating coma after a traumatic brain injury the first goal of the medical team is to ensure that the patient is out of danger, though he may be in a comatose or vegetative state. The next aim is to ensure that the individual is protected from any infection and that good care is taken to maintain his personal hygiene.

Treatment includes prevention of concurrent conditions like pneumonia, bed sores and providing the patient with a balanced and nutritious diet. To prevent contractures, a condition which results in permanent muscle contractions, as well as minimize chances of any permanent deformity of the bones, etc resulting from the comatose state after a brain injury, doctors also recommend physiotherapy.

Prognosis of coma after brain injuries

What would ultimately happen to a patient who has suffered coma and vegetative state triggered by head trauma and traumatic brain injuries would largely depend on the root cause behind the condition. Which part of the body was affected, the seriousness of the condition as well as the level of damage the condition has caused to the nerves are all deciding factors for the prognosis of the conditions.

Chances of recovery are as much as chances of demise. It is not uncommon to find people after going into coma after traumatic brain injuries requiring special attention as their physical, mental and emotional abilities are impaired.

Recovery is slow but progressive needing constant medical supervision. The final outcome may vary from one patient to another – some recover fully while others simply get back their basic responding abilities.

While coma from head or traumatic brain injuries usually lasts for 2 to 4 weeks, some patients may remain alive in a vegetative state for years or even decades. Infections arising out of pneumonia have been identified as the main cause of death in people remaining in a vegetative state for a long period of time.

While all of us are aware that closed  head injuries and traumatic brain injuries are dangerous and can even be fatal, what we may not know is that there is a myriad of conditions which may arise after such injuries. For example, there are innumerable arteries and veins within the brain cavity. In the event of a brain injury, it may result in an abnormal bulging of one of the arteries leading to a condition called brain aneurysm.

In the unfortunate event of the bulging artery bursting or rupturing, the result could be bleeding into the brain or in the space around the brain, known as the subarachnoid space. This event can further lead to stroke, damage of the brain and sometimes death. Brain and head injuries can result in both ruptured and unruptured brain aneurysms. This condition is most frequently witnessed in people in the 35 to 60 age group though it can impact people no matter what age.

Symptoms to look for in unruptured brain aneurysm arising out of brain injuries

Interestingly, brain injuries resulting in unruptured brain aneurysm show no outward symptoms of the condition. However, it manifests itself by the following symptoms in less than half of the victims:

• Problems with peripheral vision
• Thinking and though processing disorder
• Problems with verbal expressions
• Problems with perception
• Behavioral changes
• Erratic body coordination and problems with keeping balance
• Problems with concentration
• Loss of short term memory
• Tiredness

Symptoms to look for in brain injuries leading to ruptured brain aneurysm

However when head and brain injuries lead to ruptured brain aneurysm, the symptoms may manifest as:

• Headache
• Feeling of nausea and vomiting
• Pain in the neck or stiff neck
• Problems with vision
• Dilation of pupils
• Sensitivity to light
• Pain in the eye
• Absence of sensation

Treating brain injuries resulting in brain aneurysm

The primary aims of treating ruptured brain aneurysms arising out of severe brain injuries include stopping the internal hemorrhage as well as reducing any permanent damage to the brain. Preventive surgery is also done for brain injuries leading to unruptured brain aneurysms.

Fatality rates for brain aneurysms

Usually 10 to 15% of patients suffering from ruptured brain aneurysms resulting from serious brain injuries would succumb to their conditions even before they reach the hospital. Studies show that 50% or more die within 30 days of diagnosis of ruptured brain aneurysms. Permanent brain damage is inevitable in about half of the people who survive this condition triggered by head and brain injuries.