Neurotrauma is a critical public health problem that deserves the attention of the world's health community. Estimates of brain and spinal cord injury occurrence indicate that these injuries cause enormous losses to individuals, families, and communities. They result in a large number of deaths and impairments leading to permanent disabilities. Research has also shown that traumatic brain injury (TBI) usually requires long-term care and therefore incurs economic cost to health systems. For this reason, many countries need to develop surveillance systems and conduct epidemiologic studies to measure the impact of neurotrauma among their people to guide the development of more effective preventive methods. A number of methods have already proven effective, such as the use of motorcycle helmets, head supports in vehicles or on sports equipment.
Head trauma refers to any damage to the scalp, skull or brain caused by injury. Head injury may be classified in various different ways according to the type of injury, which structures in the head are damaged or how severe the trauma is.
One way head injuries are classified is according to whether the injury is open or closed.
A closed injury refers to damage that does not break the skull or penetrate the brain tissue. Although the skull is not broken, this type of injury can still cause brain damage in the form of swelling or bruising, for example.
An open injury refers to damage that penetrates the skull causing problems such as bleeding in the brain, skull fracture or the pressing of bones against structures in the brain. This type of injury is more likely to occur when a person is moving at high speed, when colliding with a windscreen during a car accident, for example. A gunshot to the head would be another example.
Spinal cord trauma is damage to the spinal cord. It may result from direct injury to the cord itself or indirectly from disease of the nearby bones, tissues, or blood vessels.