As part of our annual honoring of National Brain Injury Awareness Month, throughout March our experienced Chicago brain injury lawyers are examining the different categories and causes of brain injuries. In this article, we take a closer look at one of the two major categories of brain injury: traumatic brain injury, also known as TBI.

As suggested by their name, traumatic brain injuries arise from trauma: a blow to the head. This blow to the head, in turn, can be caused by any number of circumstances, from trucking accidents and other motor vehicle accidents to falls, diving accidents, and assault. TBI can be mild, such as a concussion or seeing stars, or extremely severe, resulting in permanent disability or death.

TBIs fall into two categories of underlying head injury – open and closed head injuries. As its name implies, open head injuries are those where the trauma penetrates the skull, such as in a gunshot wound. With open head injuries, the damage is typically localized, to the area of the brain which is penetrated, and which immediately surrounds the penetrated area. Depending on the amount of penetration and the location of this injury, however, open head injuries can lead to severe injuries, permanent disability, and death.

Likewise, closed head injuries are caused by a blow to the head which does not penetrate the skull. The blow bruises and tears the tissue of the brain, often in the frontal and temporal lobes. This, in turn, causes injury to the nerves which link brain cells together, which can then spread throughout the brain.

At times, the symptoms of TBI are obvious immediately after the injury – the victim can black out, or become disoriented, for example. But at other times, the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury do not manifest until days, months, or even years after the fact. Symptoms can also be novel to or unrecognized by most observers. When a victim breaks his leg, he is unable to walk, something which everyone can understand. When a victim suffers a traumatic brain injury, however, he may have difficulty reasoning, difficulty speaking, or personality changes – injuries much more difficult to recognize and understand. Experienced professionals, such as the Chicago brain injury attorneys of Passen Law Group, thus often refer to TBI as an “invisible injury.”

Brain injury can also be “invisible” because it can fail to register on diagnostic imaging. Some types of TBI damage appear on CAT scans and MRIs, including tearing and bleeding. But others, such as the damage to nerve cells connecting brain cells, do not show up on these imaging types. Thus, TBI often must be diagnosed by examining the victim’s symptoms.

Symptoms of TBI vary from victim to victim, and can be behavioral, cognitive, or physical. But typical symptoms include reasoning or judgment difficulties, language problems, memory deficiencies, difficulty concentrating, learning disabilities, aggression, impulse control problems, depression and anxiety, difficulty seeing, hearing, tasting, or smelling, headaches, reduced motor function, balance problems, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, seizures, and pain (particularly neck pain).

Moreover, TBI, particularly repeated TBI, can lead to an increased risk of several diseases, including Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s. Researchers have also discovered that Lou Gehrig’s disease, is, in many cases, a misdiagnosed consequence of a traumatic brain injury.

If you or a loved one have suffered a TBI, it is crucial that you speak to an experienced attorney about your condition, its causes, and the symptoms you have suffered. An experienced attorney can help you to determine if another party was responsible for your injuries, and may be legally and financially responsible to compensate you. Our Chicago brain injury attorneys have experience with the various types of TBI, as well as the many forms of symptoms TBI can cause

For a Free Consultation with a top Chicago brain injury lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us today at (312) 527-4500.

Every March, the nation recognizes National Brain Injury Awareness Month: a month devoted to raising awareness of the various types and causes of brain injuries, and support for the victims of these injuries. The top Chicago brain injury attorneys of Passen Law Group recognize this important month, as an important part of our mission to help the public understand how common these injuries actually are, and how much work is needed to help victims deal with the life-altering effects. Thus, each year we recognize National Brain Injury Awareness Month by posting articles explaining the various types of brain injury, the typical causes of these injuries, how they affect victims, how they are treated, and how the victims can often bring legal claims — sorry we’re a little late this year.

There are two major types of brain injury, both of which we will explore in depth throughout the month: traumatic brain injury (also known as TBI) and non-traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury goes by many names, including acquired brain injury and simply head injury. TBI is caused by trauma to the head and brain. Most commonly, this occurs as a result of an accident, but it can occur as a result of repeated small, intentional blows (such as “heading” the ball in soccer) or through acts of violence. Some of the most common causes of TBI are car accidents, truck accidents, construction accidents, falls, and sporting injuries. But most traumatic brain injuries – more than half – are caused by motor vehicle (car and truck) accidents.

Traumatic brain injury can be very mild, or very serious. This depends on the victim’s own susceptibility and physical condition, as well as the severity and position of the blow to the head. When a victim suffers a mild TBI, he may experience only brief dizziness or confusion, may “see stars,” or may briefly black out (lose consciousness).

Many mild TBIs fall under the heading of concussion. Although concussions are generally mild and the victim can recover with proper care, concussions can leave a victim vulnerable to more serious TBI and other brain conditions in the future. Victims of mild TBI should, at a minimum, take it easy and avoid vigorous or dangerous activity for several days.

Severe traumatic brain injury, by contrast, can lead to permanent problems, including mental or physical disability, and even death. Victims of severe TBI often suffer from a longer loss of consciousness, long-term memory loss, personality alterations, long-term or permanent cognitive disability, long-term impaired judgment, and the loss of motor skills.

Victims thus frequently have extensive medical bills, the expenses of long-term therapy, and decreased earning potential. These costs can often be recovered, however, with the aid of an experienced brain injury attorney. This is because TBI is frequently caused by the negligence or recklessness of another, via a car or other accident.

Non-traumatic brain injuries, however, are not caused by a blow to the head. These brain injuries are frequently caused by oxygen deprivation, from cardiac arrest, near-drowning, illness, poisoning, or birth trauma. Non-traumatic brain injuries can also result in legal liability, for example, when a doctor negligently fails to diagnose a condition that leads to brain injury.

For a free consultation with an experienced Chicago brain injury lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us at (312) 527-4500.

If you have recently had kidney or prostate surgery, you may have been offered the option of a robotic surgery, rather than one performed by a surgeon using his hands. You may have wondered which was the better option: and chances are your doctor was able to offer you little guidance beyond his own preferences.

Now, new research has shown that those surgical patients (for kidney or prostate surgery) who have robot-assisted surgery instead of traditional surgery have shorter average hospital stays. These patients also have a lower risk of death, and a lower risk of needing a blood transfusion. The one downside: robot-assisted surgeries come with a larger bill.

The Journal of Urology published the new research. The study looked at a federal-government database and analyzed the type of surgery and the outcome. By the end of the study period, over half of prostate surgeries were robot-assisted.

The study found that robot-assisted surgery, often called laparoscopic or “keyhold” surgery, was tied to better patient outcomes. In these surgeries, two small incisions are made, and tools and a tiny video camera are inserted. Thus, instead of the surgeon’s hands, the surgery is performed by mechanical arms and high-precision tools, which the surgeon operates using a console and control panel.

The difference in outcomes was not trivial. For prostate removal surgery, two of every 1,000 patients do not survive the procedure when open, “traditional” surgery is used. By contrast, there was not a single death during the study period for those patients who underwent a robot-assisted prostate removal. Likewise, 5 percent of open-prostate-surgery patients received a blood transfusion, while less than 2 percent of robot-assisted prostate removals required a transfusion. Open-surgery patients also had hospital stays averaging one day more than robot-assisted patients. These results were similar for kidney-removal operations.

Robot-assisted surgeries, however, cost between $1,100 and $1,300 more than open surgery.

This cost should really not be a factor, however, when the better, safer results are considered. Indeed, based on the almost-nonexistent risk of death in a robot-assisted surgery, it may constitute medical malpractice not to offer a patient the option of a robot-assisted surgery.

If you recently underwent prostate- or kidney-removal surgery, were not offered the option of a robot-assisted surgery, and suffered a negative outcome, you may be the victim of medical malpractice. Talk to an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney can help you to determine whether you have a legal claim, and whether to pursue it.

For a free consultation with an experienced Chicago medical malpractice lawyer at Passen Law Group, call us at (312) 527-4500.