How does a brain injury Happen?

80% of brain injuries are mild, classified as concussions

Brain injuries can happen without road accidents as well. All that is needed is a vigorous force to the head that either results in head strike (such as in falls or violence) or a rotational injury (like in road accidents or in shaken baby syndrome).

The best interventions to reduce the burden of brain injury are related to traffic rules especially related to dangerous driving and non-use of seat belts. As a society that tolerates dangerous driving behaviours, we need serious conversations about how to tackle the road accidents, said Dr Vaqas Farooqui, consultant of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Amana Healthcare, Abu Dhabi.

Moreover, almost 80 per cent of traumatic brain injuries are mild, often classified as concussions where there is a very brief period of loss of consciousness. The patients having concussions are discharged if their radiology does not suggest a significant injury. Unfortunately, despite normal CT scans these patients would still have effects of brain injury.

While this is being well recognised in the sports where the players are taken off the field for two or more weeks, this is less recognised in hospitals in other brain injury cases. Often these patients return to work or studies while still having effects of brain injury and risk losing their jobs or failing in exams.

They may return to drive early and end up in more accidents. No pathways exist to have these patients properly followed up due to deficiencies in general practice/family medicine services and neurorehabilitation services.