What are the classifications of traumatic
brain injury? Well, typically doctors will classify
them into three broad categories. They call them mild, moderate, and severe.
Severe is one where the patient is in a coma and is unlikely to recover. They're
completely non-functioning and there is no dispute that that person has a
significant injury. Moderate is where the person has a loss of consciousness for
greater than 24 hours. They usually have focal neurologic deficits. Again, there's
usually not a great dispute as to whether or not there is a significant
serious injury.
And finally, the most debated, in fact the most subject of
lawsuits, is what's called a mild traumatic brain injury and that one is
generally agreed to be one where there may be loss of consciousness, there may
not be a loss of consciousness. If there is loss of consciousness it's typically
less than 30 minutes in duration. There is usually some post-traumatic
amnesia but usually less than 24 hours worth and the person that has mild
traumatic brain injury may recover fully from any symptoms they have with that or
they may develop what's known as a post concussion syndrome that could
severely affect the rest of their life.
The outcomes for that patient population
are highly variable..