Traumatic Brain Injury (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Acquired brain injury, TBI

Every year, millions of people in the U.S. sustain head and brain injuries. More than half are bad enough that people must go to the hospital. The worst injuries can lead to permanent brain damage or death.

Half of all TBIs are due to motor vehicle accidents. Military personnel are also at risk. Symptoms of a TBI may not appear until days or weeks following the injury. Serious traumatic brain injuries need emergency treatment.

Treatment and outcome depend on the injury. TBI can cause a wide range of changes affecting thinking, sensation, language, or emotions. TBI can be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. People with severe injuries usually need rehabilitation.

Start Here

Head Injuries: What to Watch for Afterward(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/brain/head/084.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/common/brain/head/084.printerview.html
Traumatic Brain Injury: Hope through Research(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/detail_tbi.htm
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/trastornos/el_traumatismo_cerebral.htm

Overviews

Living with Brain Injury(Brain Injury Association of America) - http://www.biausa.org/education.htm
Traumatic Brain Injury(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/tbi.htm

Latest News

Alzheimer's Drug May Someday Help Head Trauma Victims(03/16/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81735.html
Head Injury While Young Ups Epilepsy Risk(02/23/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_80929.html
Many Combat Vets Suffer Severe Headaches Upon Return(02/23/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_80934.html

Diagnosis/Symptoms

Computed Tomography (CT) -- Head(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=headct
Also available in Spanish http://www.radiologyinfo.org/sp/info.cfm?pg=headct
Functional MR Imaging (fMRI) -- Brain(American College of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America) - http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=fmribrain
Also available in Spanish http://www.radiologyinfo.org/sp/info.cfm?pg=fmribrain

Treatment

Head Trauma: First Aid(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/first-aid-head-trauma/FA00008/METHOD=print
Neurosurgery - What Is It?(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/whatisneurosurgery/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/whatisneurosurgeryspanish/htm/index.htm

Prevention/Screening

Heads Up: Preventing Brain Injuries(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/tbi_toolkit/patients/preventing.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/tbi_toolkit/patients/prevencion.htm

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Cognitive Retraining(American Brain Tumor Association) - http://www.abta.org/index.cfm?contentid=199
Rehabilitative Medicine(American Brain Tumor Association) - http://www.abta.org/index.cfm?contentid=201
Speech Pathology Services(American Brain Tumor Association) - http://www.abta.org/index.cfm?contentid=202
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Effects and Intervention(American Occupational Therapy Association) - http://www.aota.org/Consumers/Tips/Conditions/TBI/35199.aspx

Specific Conditions

Cerebral Hypoxia(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/anoxia/anoxia.htm
Frequently Asked Questions(Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center) - http://www.dvbic.org/faq.php
Intracranial Hematoma(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/intracranial-hematoma/DS00330/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
Right Hemisphere Brain Damage(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) - http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/RightBrainDamage.htm
Sports-Related Head Injury(American Association of Neurological Surgeons) - http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/sports.asp?link_id=5792

Related Issues

Brain Injuries and Mass Casualty Events(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/masscasualties/braininjuriespub.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.bt.cdc.gov/masscasualties/es/braininjuriespub.asp
Coma(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/coma/DS00724/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all
Coma(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/coma/coma.htm
Frequently Asked Questions about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Employment(Office of Disability Employment Policy, Veterans' Employment and Training Service) - http://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/FAQTBI.html
Tips for Communicating with People with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)(Office of Disability Employment Policy, Veterans' Employment and Training Service) - http://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/tips.html
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) - http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/TBI.htm
Understanding Brain Injury: A Guide for the Family(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - Large PDF file - http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/mayo/research/tbims/upload/ubi_families.pdf

Health Check Tools

Head Injury without Laceration(DSHI Systems) - http://www.freemd.com/head-injury-without-laceration/visit-virtual-doctor.htm

Tutorials

Neurosurgery - What Is It?(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/whatisneurosurgery/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/whatisneurosurgeryspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury(Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center) - http://www.dvbic.org/education.php

Anatomy/Physiology

Atlas of the Body: The Brain -- Lobes(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/medlib/article/ZZZR9WH46JC
Atlas of the Body: The Brain -- Side View(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/medlib/article/ZZZYUAM46JC
Atlas of the Body: The Skull(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/medlib/article/ZZZCIHWBGJC
Brain Anatomy: How to Tour the Brain(National Brain Tumor Society) - http://www.braintumor.org/patent_info/Surviving/brain_anatomy/index.html
Brain Maps(Brain Injury Association of America) - http://www.biausa.org/Pages/brain_maps.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Brain Injuries(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Brain+Injuries%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Coma(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Coma%22
ClinicalTrials.gov: Craniocerebral Trauma(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Craniocerebral+Trauma%22

Research

Are We Equal in Death? Avoiding Diagnostic Error in Brain Death(American Academy of Neurology) - http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/full/70/4/e14
Life and Death of a Neuron(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/ninds_neuron.htm

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Necessity of repeat head CT and ICU monitoring in patients... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19359908&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Early magnetic resonance imaging is unnecessary in patients with traumatic... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19359907&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Being conscious of their burden: severe brain injury and the... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19351362&tool=MedlinePlus
Traumatic Brain Injury -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=brain+injuries[majr]+NOT+(brain+concussion[majr]+OR+coma[majr]+OR+persistent+vegetative+state[mh]+OR+cerebrospinal+fluid+otorrhea[mh]+OR+cerebrospinal+fluid+rhinorrhea[mh]+OR+cranial+nerve+injuries[mh]+OR+facial+injuries[mh])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text]+OR+systematic[sb])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
Coma and persistent vegitative state -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=coma[majr]+OR+persistent+vegetative+state[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+systematic[sb]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Medical Encyclopedia

head and brain injury - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=head+and+brain+injury

Directories

Find a Board-Certified Neurosurgeon(American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons) - http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/findaneuro/
Find a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Physician(American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) - http://www.e-aapmr.org/imis/imisonline/findphys/find.cfm

Organizations

Brain Injury Association of America - http://www.biausa.org/
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/injury/
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://espanol.ninds.nih.gov/

Law and Policy

Bicycle Helmet Use Laws(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) - Links to PDF - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/TSFLaws/PDFs/810886.pdf

Statistics

Blast Injury FAQs(Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center) - http://www.dvbic.org/blastinjury.php
Traumatic Brain Injury(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/tbi/TBI.htm

MedlinePlus Magazine

A Family Finds Its Way - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall08/articles/fall08pg2-7.html
Changing the Odds - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall08/articles/fall08pg9.html
Going Local to Find Help - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall08/articles/fall08pg8.html
NIH Research to Results - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall08/articles/fall08pg7.html
TBI Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/magazine/issues/fall08/articles/fall08pg4-5.html

Children

Abusive Head Trauma (Shaken Baby Syndrome)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html
Head Injuries(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/head_injury.html
Shaken Baby Syndrome(National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) - Short Summary - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shakenbaby/shakenbaby.htm
Think First for Kids(ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation) - http://www.thinkfirst.org/kids/
Traumatic Brain Injury(National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities) - http://www.nichcy.org/Disabilities/Specific/Pages/TraumaticBrainInjury.aspx
What Is a Coma?(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/coma.html

Teenagers

Think First for Teens(ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation) - http://www.thinkfirst.org/teens/

Seniors

Preventing Traumatic Brain Injury in Older Adults(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/braininjuryinseniors/images/pdfs/PreventingBrainInjury_Booklet_508_080227.pdf

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Concussion - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/concussion.html
Brain and Nerves - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/brainandnerves.html
Injuries and Wounds - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/injuriesandwounds.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Traumatic Brain Injury is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - http://www.ninds.nih.gov/

Traumatic Brain Injury - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/traumaticbraininjury.html