How do doctors define traumatic brain injury ?

Injury: Traumatic brain injury is a decrease in brain function that occurs after an injury- such as a blow to the head.

External Force: When external force creates injury to the brain it is usually classified as traumatic brain injury (tbi). Tbi can be classified based on mechanism of injury, location and severity. The glasgow coma scale (gcs), is used tor classify tbi severity. Damage can be focal or diffuse and require treatment by highly trained professionals: neurosurgeons, neurologists and rehabilitation team.

Structure & function: there are two ways to define a traumatic brain injury. Begin with a potentially damaging event. The use of neuroimaging such as CAT scan or MRI will give structural information. Functional information such as the results of the neurological examination and reports of acquired difficulty after the injury. Neuropsychological testing helps to define the deficits.