27 May Acquired brain damage

The first thing we should know is that acquired brain damage is called when a brain injury occurs for some reason, of whatever type, with possible sequelae (motor, cognitive, functional, social…). If so, we will always require some type of rehabilitation.

The rehabilitative treatment of people who have acquired brain injury (ABI) will consist of being able to give the patient all the necessary resources and support measures to try to prevent the secondary complications of this brain injury, preserve its structures and the functions of our brain and thus to be able to recover the maximum physical, functional and social capacity so that in this way the person can reintegrate into their family and also social life with the greatest possible autonomy. Occupational therapists will also guide us on what kind of help tools there are and how to use them to facilitate this process.

Acquired brain damage can be caused by external or internal causes of the organism.

The human brain is the most complex organic structure in the universe scientifically recognized. This organ is the only one in charge of our central nervous system and its function is the control center of all our bodily functions.

Thanks to the advances and studies that are being carried out today, we can help ourselves with a multitude of adapters and plastic tools in order to have greater autonomy and enjoy a quality of life to be able to carry out our basic activities of daily life.

80% of stroke cases are due to arterial blockage.

There are two types of acquired brain damage:

-TRAUMATIC acquired brain damage: It is the one that is caused by something external to the body, such as a blow or a jolt, and can cause serious long-term damage or bodily injury, here are some examples: Vehicle accident, gunshot wounds, syndrome shaken baby, explosions, falls…
-NON-TRAUMATIC acquired brain damage: They would be those caused by some problem in our body or by substances introduced into it that damage our brain tissues, most common examples: Stroke, ischemic stroke, aneurysm, brain tumors, overdose, bruises, meningitis, encephalitis… ..

Within the main causes of acquired brain damage we separate them into 6 variants:

*Trauma or Blow (TCE): It is one of the most common causes of acquired brain damage and we have 4 types:

-Penetration injury: Both the skull and the brain are penetrated by some hard object…eg a bullet.

-Crushing: When the skull and brain are crushed between 2 hard surfaces…eg: traffic accident.

-Open Injury: The skull is fractured with an opening and the brain is exposed.

-Closed Injury: The skull is fractured but there is no opening, the brain is still protected by the skull. The most common is head trauma.

Two patients with the same brain damage may have different symptoms.

*STROKE: A cardiovascular accident or stroke can be produced in two ways:

– Blocked Artery: When a clot or mass blocks the artery and does not let the normal blood supply pass, so that the brain tissue does not receive the necessary oxygen. This is 80% of reported cases.

-Bleeding: When we have a weak or damaged artery, we call it more commonly Aneurysm, which can suddenly burst over time causing our blood to flow to the tissues. This would be 20% of the cases.

*Brain Tumor: Acts similar to a blood clot, compressing the surrounding tissue, creating a malfunction of the brain.

*Anoxia: The meaning of Anoxia is lack of oxygen, our brain works thanks to it (just like a car without gasoline does not work). We can say that our brain has three minutes before it begins to have irreversible cellular damage from oxygen deprivation.

*Infection: Infection in the brain is called Encephalitis and if we talk about infection of the brain membranes we call it Meningitis. Both one pathology and the other, what they do is damage the cells of our brain and its ability to function correctly and normally.

*Brain Surgery: It is necessary to be able to remove tumors and stop seizures that can cause us some ailment. Unfortunately, acquired brain damage can also be created as a result of some cutting or extraction of fragments or brain tissue.