Brain Injury

BRAIN  INJURY

Head injuries are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the community.  Trauma is the third most common cause of death in the United States, exceeded only by cardiocerebral vascular disease and cancer.

Trauma is the leading cause of death in youth and early middle age and the death is often associated with major head trauma. Head injury contributes significantly to the outcome in over half of trauma related deaths. There are approximately 2.5 deaths from head injury per 10,000 population in Australia and neurotrauma causes approximately 3.5% of all deaths. Road traffic accidents are responsible for about 65% if all fatal head injuries in Australia.

There is a wide spectrum of head injury from mild concussion to serve brain injury resulting in death. The management of the patient following a head injury requires the identification of the pathological processes that have occurred.