Suffolk County

Published on: March 23, 2012

Secondary brain injury is what occurs after the damage caused by the initial impact to the skull

by Stephen Bilkis

Secondary brain injury is what occurs after the damage caused by the initial impact to the skull, according to doctors. Medical professionals classify it into two types: extracranial and intracranial.

Extracranial secondary brain damage cause problems either by restricting the flow of oxygen to the brain or restricting the flow of blood. Both of these conditions can eventually cause the death of brain cells. This can be extremely dangerous, especially if undetected for a time.

The most extreme consequence of oxygen deprivation is the persistent vegetative state (PVS) or death. Secondary brain damage due to lack of oxygen or low blood pressure can even occure to those who have already been admitted to intensive care units, according to studiess. Some studies have shown this can occur in about a third of patients, even when such an injury was not detected earlier.

Published on: March 16, 2012

Bound Toddler Placed in Shower to Drown

by Stephen Bilkis

A baby girl from Colorado Springs is fighting for her life and, according to a doctor, suffers irreversible brain damage. The mother and aunt of the child are accused of taping the child’s wrists, ankles, eyes and mouth with tape, leaving her in a running shower, and then falling asleep. They are charged with attempted murder, and their trial is set to proceed at the end of the month.

The child’s 19-year-old mother and 50-year-old aunt were present for the preliminary hearing that determined there was enough evidence to proceed with a criminal trial. Both women are charged with attempted first degree murder and child abuse. The mother is also charged with two counts of crime of violence, each of which carries a sentence of up to 48 years in prison. If found guilty, the young mother could spend the rest of her life in jail. The 20-month-old victim is still in the hospital.

After an emergency call stating that a toddler wasn’t breathing, officers responded and arrived at the 2400 block of Farragut Avenue in Colorado Springs. When paramedics got there, the small child was unconscious; she was immediately transported to Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.

Published on: March 5, 2012

Care for victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI) starts on the battlefield

by Stephen Bilkis

Care for victims of traumatic brain injury (TBI) starts on the battlefield, according to “Guidelines for Field Management of Combat-Related Head Trauma”, many concerned doctors have learned. The combat medic works hard to prevent further harm from coming to the victim. The basics, such as the ABCs of airway, breathing, and circulation are tended to before work on the actual injury begins.

Once the patient is stabilized, the severity of the injury is determined, which helps form the basis of triage decisions. Someone who is less injured can be evacuated to a better facility than a field hospital. Some of these need to be moved by helicopter or some other expeditious manner. A blast from something like an improvised explosive device (IED) often results in multiple injuries, which need to be managed all at once.

The combat support hospital is the place for a more detailed assessment of injuries. When it comes to blast trauma, neuroimaging with CT scans should be done as soon as possible. It is important to identify things like intracranial hemorrhage, skull fractures, or cerebral edemas before they develop into something worse. Often it is necessary to perform emergency neurosurgery, field doctors have discovered.

Published on: February 24, 2012

No one is certain what really causes primary explosive blast traumatic brain injury

by Stephen Bilkis

No one is certain what really causes primary explosive blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI), according to doctors. Clearly, the “cause” is the explosion and the mechanism by which it works is the interaction of explosive force upon the human body, but this does not medically explain everything that occurs.

There are primary and secondary injury mechanisms when it comes to trauma. Primary injury mechanisms can be attributed directly to the cause of the injury, like laceration from a cut. Secondary injuries are physiological responses, like bleeding or bruising. When it comes to bTBI, professionals have learned, there is probably more than one primary injury mechanism involved.

The blast produced by an explosive device travels through a medium like air or water in a wave of pressure. Basically, a great deal of energy is chemically produced. Mechanical, thermal, and electromagnetic energy is transferred into the surrounding medium, and into anyone who happens to be in the blast radius.

Published on: January 14, 2012

Less than 1 in 10 patients die from their combat-related injuries.

by Stephen Bilkis

News studies have documented a decrease in the killed:wounded ratio thanks to advances in medical science. Less than 1 in 10 patients die from their combat-related injuries. Even on the battlefield, there have been great medical innovations. Clinical improvements used to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI) include early decompressive craniectomy, neuro-critical care, cerebral angiography, transcranial Doppler, hypertonic saline, TBI clinical management guidelines, among other techniques.

All the new medical procedures have resulted in a greater survival rate for fighters injured in combat, according to authorities. This, however, leaves a great many with debilitating injuries, which means new procedures for rehabilitation must be developed.

The press reports the frequency of explosive blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI) as around 40-60% of deployed U.S. combatants. Another report estimates as many as 320,000 or 20% of all forces deployed suffer from some kind of TBI. There is little evidence to support these claims and a comprehensive study of bTBI has yet to occur.

Published on: December 19, 2011

Things become much more complex in a non-free field or enclosed area, such as a building

by Stephen Bilkis

The type of explosion studied theoretically in the determination of the causes of explosive blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI) assumed an open field explosion. Things become much more complex in a non-free field or enclosed area, such as a building, doctors have learned.

In an enclosed space, the shockwaves can reflect from walls, ceilings, and other objects, creating a “complex wave field.” An explosive blast under such conditions creates an individual scenario that cannot accurately be predicted or replicated. Studies in Suffolk and Westchester counties have confirmed this.

Studies have noted there has been the assumption that pressure, and not the shockwave, may cause bTBI, but such studies may not be valid. These studies suggest the pressure of the blast leads to failure of air-filled organs, such as the lungs and the bowels. Therefore, if this is true, lungs should be injured more often in explosions. Clinical experience shows this is not the case. The bowel is generally uninjured unless there is penetration from shrapnel. Brain injury was not studied and some believe interceptor body armor may protect those organs from the blast. There may even be other physical forces that play a role in explosive blast injury.

Published on: December 4, 2011

Diagnosing a concussion or mild TBI (traumatic brain injury) can be difficult

by Stephen Bilkis

Diagnosing a concussion or mild TBI (traumatic brain injury) can be difficult, even to experienced physicians, especially on the battlefield. Yet, that does not diminish the importance of diagnosing such a brain injury as soon as possible so the appropriate medical care can be given as soon as possible. If it isn’t, the warfighter may be return to duty at impaired status and the condition could even worsen over time.

In the war theater, the primary caregivers are often medics, who are not as extensively trained as physicians. They may not be able to recognize such subtle injuries as the ones caused by mild TBI. Often there are no cuts or bruises with these injuries. In fact, the patient may not even know he or she has sustained an injury. Others may hide evidence of an injury to remain with their unit.

It is important that medics and other medical providers in hospitals in Nassau and Suffolk need to watch out for bTBI (explosive blast traumatic injury) after any soldier has been in close proximity to an explosion, doctors have discovered. The patient may even need to be referred to another strata of care, like a neurologist, neurosurgeon, or emergency medical physician.

Published on: November 3, 2011

Physicians currently do not have many distinctions between explosive blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI), closed head traumatic brain injury (cTBI) and penetrative traumatic brain injury (pTBI)

by Stephen Bilkis

Physicians currently do not have many distinctions between explosive blast traumatic brain injury (bTBI), closed head traumatic brain injury (cTBI) and penetrative traumatic brain injury (pTBI), according to New York Brain Injury Lawyers. The military also uses the same criteria to assess such injuries as civilians.

A 1993 definition from the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine of TBI apples to bTBI when an explosive blast causes loss of consciousness, amnesia, or loss of focus. The severity is determined by how long the altered mental state lasts. Less than 5 minutes is mild, though it can lead into difficulties like headaches, confusion, and amnesia, as well as a difficulty to concentrate, altered mood, problems sleeping, and general anxiety. These symptoms usually go within a few hours or days.

Lawyers have discovered that even these mild cases could result in post-concussive syndrome which could happen days later. Government agencies are currently developing guidelines to manage this condition, which seems to respond to simple reassurance and specific treatments like non-narcotic analgesics, anti-migraine medication to treat headaches, and anti-depressants. Just as with civilian cTBI, the problem might last only a few weeks, but it might well last a year or more in some cases.

Published on: October 20, 2011

Infant Brain Injury Caused by Birth Trauma

by Stephen Bilkis

A Washington D.C. infant abuse case involving bleeding on the brain took an unexpected turn when a neurosurgeon testified that bleeding was caused not by abuse, but by birth trauma, sources told NY Brain Injury Lawyers. The six-week-old (at the time) infant may or may not have been abused, but the brain injuries came from another source entirely.

Medical records dating from 2009 indicated to the neurosurgeon that the bleeding on the brain came from a portion far too deep to have been caused by abuse. His theory is that the injury was caused during a difficult delivery, which caused tearing of the fibers of the brain. This injury would be recurring, meaning it could have easily not caused trouble for weeks.

“It verified to me that this is a birth-related injury,” the neurosurgeon said to NY Brain Injury Lawyers.

Published on: October 6, 2011

Woman receives brain injury during jewelry heist, says New York Brain Injury Lawyer

by Stephen Bilkis

According to a doctor, a woman sustained a very serious brain injury after a car driven by some jewelry thieves dragged her. The robbers were trying to steal her diamond bracelet. The defense lawyer made an argument that it was the woman who caused the outcome.

The Nassau doctor indicated that it was the thieves that went to the woman’s home to steal her diamond bracelet that she had put up for sale on a website. Apparently, the thieves had seen the advertisement and had gone to recover the item without paying.

The woman chased the thieves to the car and put up a fight to get her precious jewelry back. The source said that one of the teenage robbers became fearful and then drove off quickly without paying attention to the struggle that was taking place with the passenger and the woman.