An Excerpt from the course on Head, Facial, Neck, and Spine Trauma

Closed head injuries are the most common type of brain injury, accounting for about 75% of the estimated two million brain injuries that occur annually. When a head injury is closed, nothing directly touches the brain. Instead, the injury comes from the brain-rattling in the skull. If the head is hit with sufficient force, the brain may even be bruised by the skull itself. The closed injury may present with swelling or depression of skull bones.

Common types of closed brain injuries include:

Diffuse axonal injury: These injuries are relatively common and are usually caused by shaking of the brain back and forth, which can happen in car accidents, from falls, or shaken baby syndrome.

Concussion: Concussions usually result in only a temporary disruption of brain function. Moreover, if a concussion is not promptly treated and swelling continues, the concussion survivor can die.

Intracranial hematoma: This occurs when a ruptured blood vessel results in a pool of blood either around the brain or in between the brain and skull. It can cause intense pressure on the brain that may be fatal or permanently damaging if not promptly treated. There are three types of hematomas: Epidural, Subdural, and Intracerebral.

Cerebral contusion: A contusion is a bruise to the brain itself. A contusion causes bleeding and swelling inside the brain around the area where the head was struck. When trauma is not the cause, the most common reasons are chronic, including high blood pressure in older adults, bleeding disorders in children or adults, medications that cause blood thinning, or certain illicit drugs.