Helping Victims of Non-Traumatic Brain Injuries from Providence to Middletown
Brain injuries are not only caused by traumatic impacts to the head but can also be the result of oxygen deprivation. These non-traumatic brain injuries can be just as harmful as TBIs, resulting in a serious impairment to cognitive skills, physical mobility, and other biological functions.
Our team at Karns & Kerrison is here to fight for you if your hypoxic or anoxic brain injury was caused by negligence. We are a leading brain injury law firm in the United States and have used our experience and knowledge of brain injuries to recover millions of dollars on behalf of clients.
Call 401-841-5300 to schedule a no-risk consultation with our firm or fill out our online contact form to get in touch with a member of our team.
What is a Hypoxic or Anoxic Brain Injury?
Anoxia is the total depletion of the level of oxygen in the human body. Hypoxia is a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Both anoxia and hypoxia can cause severe damage to the brain. The brain requires a constant flow of oxygen in order to function and when that flow of oxygen is disrupted the brain is prevented from performing its biochemical processes. The more complete the deprivation of oxygen, the more severe the harm to the brain and the greater the consequences.
What Happens to the Brain When It Is Deprived of Oxygen?
The brain consumes about a fifth of the body's total oxygen supply and needs energy to transmit electrochemical impulses between the cells and to maintain the ability of neurons (brain cells) to receive and respond to these signals.
The cells of the brain will start to die within a few minutes if they are deprived of oxygen. The disruption of the transmission of electrochemical impulses impacts the production and activity of neurotransmitters, which regulate many cognitive, physiological and emotional processes.
Causes of Anoxic & Hypoxic Brain Injuries
Anesthesia accidents can cause anoxia or hypoxia. Other causes can be near drowning, electrocution, chemical exposure, and poisoning (including carbon monoxide poisoning). In addition, anemic anoxia can occur when a person does not have enough blood. Acute hemorrhages, wounds, or injuries causing severe bleeding can cause anemic anoxia having the same result as any type of anoxia.
Determining the cause of your brain injury may take time and resources you simply do not have while you are trying to recover physically and emotionally from your injury. That's why our experienced brain injury lawyers are here to help you through every stage of your case. We can evaluate the extent of your injury and gather evidence to prove who is at fault and what damages you are owed.
Contact our office today by calling (888) 281-3100 or filling out our online form.
Symptoms & Other Effects of Anoxic & Hypoxic Brain Injury
The symptoms of oxygen deprivation to the brain are the same as in any traumatic brain injury including short-term memory loss, decline in executive functions, difficulty with words, and visual disturbances.
In addition, other common physical deficits from anoxia and hypoxia can be a lack of coordination (ataxia), an inability to execute familiar physical movements such as brushing teeth or eating with utensils (apraxia), jerky motions or trembling of the extremities (spasticity) or weakness of arms and legs (quadriparesis).
Diagnosing & Treating a Hypoxic or Anoxic Brain Injury
Diagnosis has to be done by an experienced physician such as a neurologist or neurosurgeon who can refer the patient for appropriate brain imaging tests including CT scans, MRIs, DWIs or DTIs, and in addition, EEGs.
Once a diagnosis is complete, treatment can be continued as in any other traumatic brain injury including neuropsychological testing to get the extent of the injury and rehabilitation including cognitive therapy.
During recovery, it is extremely important for both the injured patient and family members to be involved in rehabilitation and understand that rehabilitation is often measured in small steps rather than giant leaps.
Contact an Experienced Brain Injury Lawyer at Karns & Kerrison
Recovering the damages you deserve after an anoxic or hypoxic brain injury is not an easy task. The insurance companies that represent the at-fault party have lots of money and extensive resources at their disposal and will attempt to reduce the value of your claim to avoid a big payout. You need a team that can stand up to these big corporations and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Get in touch with Karns & Kerrison today by calling 401-841-5300 or contacting us online.