Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury

Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury results when an external force injures the brain.  

What is a Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury?

Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury is when the injured person suffers changes in brain function longer than a few minutes following the trauma or a personal injury like a slip and fall or vehicle collision.  The symptoms are similar to a concussion or mild traumatic brain injury except that they do not improve like a concussion, and often they worsen.  Symptoms often include a headache that gets worse or does not go away, repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, an inability to awaken from sleep, dilation of one or both pupils of the eyes, slurred speech, weakness or numbness in the extremities, loss of coordination, and increased confusion, restlessness, or agitation.

There can be several criteria (taken from the MSKTC) that demonstrate a brain injury due to an external force like a car collision:

1. loss of consciousness

2. loss of recall or memory of the traumatic event

3. skull fracture, seizure or abnormal brain scan. 

What to Do?

Get help.  Go to the Emergency Room or get an immediate referral to a specialist.  The professionals should refer you to a CT scan (basically a brain X-ray) or an MRI of the brain in order to see if there is any neurological or brain damage due to a moderate traumatic brain injury.  These studies will not always detect the problem, but they are essential in helping the professional help figure out what is wrong.

Help and Resources

If you or a loved one has traumatic brain injury symptoms and have no where to turn, we are here as a resource for you.  It is a scary time, but we are here to answer your questions.  Do not let more time pass if you or a loved exhibits any of the symptoms.  Any form of a traumatic brain injury, a concussion, a moderate traumatic brain injury or a severe traumatic brain injury is scary and needs to be handled immediately.