Making Decisions After a Traumatic Brain Injury

After a personal injury involving head trauma, a person may end up on life support. When this happens, you have a hard decision to make. Of course, you hope that your loved one will pull through, but this does not always happen, unfortunately.

More than likely, you will have to decide when to take your loved one off life support. Most decisions are made within the first three days. That probably doesn’t seem like a long time. . The good news is that data suggests that waiting and gathering more data may be the better decision.

When it comes to recovery after a brain surgery, there is so much uncertainty. Each person is different, so you never quite know what’s going to happen. Will the person ever recover and to what degree? Some people make full recoveries, but that is rare. Typically, a person who survives a severe brain injury will have some lasting effects.

To gather more information about recovery from a traumatic brain injury, an assistant professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and her colleagues studied almost 3,100 patients with traumatic brain injuries The study took place between 2014 and 2021 across 18 trauma centers in the United States. The patients were enrolled within 24 hours of their injuries, and the researchers followed many of them for roughly one year. Among these patients, 90 died after life support was removed. These patients were matched to 90 similar patients in the study group whose life support had not been withdrawn in an attempt to compare the outcomes.

Many patients who were kept on life support died, especially those who were older and had more severe injuries. However, close to 30% of the matched patients made a meaningful recovery within six months. They returned to at least partial independence, which means they were able to live with disabilities that still allowed them to engage in some daily activities.

Those with less severe injuries were pretty much able to return to normal life. Among younger patients with fewer health conditions and less severe injuries, at least 50% regained some independence.

Even though an injury can look quite devastating hours or a few days after it happens, evidence shows that even devastating injuries can lead to recovery months later.

However, it’s important to note that not everyone on life support survives. In fact, 60% of people would have likely died anyway. Plus, it is not suggested that life support should always be continued. It’s a decision that family members should make based on the circumstances.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Today 

Brain injuries can lead to serious conditions and even fatality. When a person is in a coma, their loved ones often have to make hard decisions.

What choices should you make? How can you get the help and support you need? A Tampa traumatic brain injury attorney from Moore Law can help you pursue a personal injury claim so you get the compensation you need. Fill out the online form or call 813-510-5400 to schedule a consultation.

Source:

statnews.com/2024/05/14/traumatic-brain-injury-life-support/