More and more the Philadelphia workers’ compensation attorneys at Pearson Koutcher Law are representing injured workers who have suffered some form of a traumatic brain injury. Representing an injured worker with a “closed head” trauma can be complicated, due to the serious nature of the injury, and also because the symptoms are often easily overlooked by many practitioners. Far too often, practitioners focus only on the physical injuries of an injured worker. As a result, an injured worker with “closed head” injuries may have severe medical problems that go unrecognized and untreated, to the detriment of the injured worker’s health and the overall case.
What is a traumatic brain injury? A traumatic brain injury (“TBI”) occurs when there is a sudden trauma that causes damage to the brain. This could be in the form of a strike to the head, a sudden movement of the head or a penetrating injury to the skull. In some cases, a TBI can occur from a person being nearby or close to an explosion.
What are the symptoms of a TBI? Symptoms of a traumatic brain injury can range from mild, to moderate to severe. A concussion is often classified as a mild traumatic brain injury. Symptoms typically include headaches, confusion, lightheadedness, dizziness, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, fatigue, sleep disturbance, behavioral or mood changes, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention or thinking. A person with a moderate or severe traumatic brain injury may show these same symptoms, but also may have a headache that increases in severity, experiences repeated vomiting or nausea, convulsions or seizures, has an inability to awaken from sleep, has pupils in the eyes that may become dilated, has slurred speech, and experiences weakness and numbness in the arms/legs, loss of coordination and increased confusion or agitation.
What are the types of traumatic brain injury? A concussion is the most common (and mildest) type of TBI. Other traumatic braininjuries are more severe. A skull fracture is a type of TBI where the bone of the skull cracks or breaks. This can cause part of the broken skull to press into the tissue of the brain, or it can cause bruising of the brain called a contusion. If the trauma causes damage to a major blood vessel in the head, a hematoma can occur, which results in heavy bleeding into or around the brain.
Pearson Koutcher Law has significant experience representing injured workers with a traumatic brain injury. The Philadelphia work injury attorneys at Pearson Koutcher, LLP understand how to recognize the symptoms associated with a TBI, and importantly, we have over three decades of combined experience counseling injured workers with a traumatic brain injury. The Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyers at Pearson Koutcher Law handle traumatic brain injury cases with great care and patience. We make all efforts to ensure the injured worker is being treated by an appropriate healthcare provider for the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury, whether a neurologist, neuropsychologist, or physiatrist. We understand the physical and emotional problems created by a traumatic brain injury. If you experience symptoms of a “closed head” injury from some type of work accident, contact the Philadelphia workers’ compensation lawyers at Pearson Koutcher Law.
Let us put our decades of experience to work for you, helping you navigate the complexities of the Workers’ Compensation laws.