Closed Head Trauma

Excerpt

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain from external mechanical force. TBI can generally be classified as either closed or penetrating, with the latter distinguished by violation of the skull and dura mater. Of the two, closed head injury (CHI) is far more common. Types of CHI include concussion, contusion, diffuse axonal injury, and intracranial hematoma (epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and intraparenchymal hemorrhage). This article will focus only on closed head injury, and the terms TBI and CHI will be used interchangeably.

TBI is often classified as mild, moderate, or severe based on the Glasgow coma Scale (GCS). Mild TBI, often called “concussion,” is defined by a GCS of 14 to 15 and accounts for over 80% of TBI. Moderate TBI is defined by a GCS of 9 to 13 and accounts for about 10% of TBI. Severe TBI is defined by a GCS of 3 to 8.