Traumatic brain injuries in children can cause long-term effects

The CDC released a report that traumatic brain injuries in children can cause long-term effects.

An orthopedic physician told ABC 17 that he took care of a 12-year-old patient who took a hard hit to the head. Dr. Chris Farmer said, “It was a day or two later. Parents thought he was just coming down with a cold or a flu, it ended up being a pretty significant injury that put him in the hospital.”

Doctors later found out that the child had a stroke. Dr. Farmer also told us that symptoms of T.B.I. can be similar to many illnesses.

Some of the symptoms are being “irritable or cranky or nauseous or not wanting to wake up. Sometimes things are just subtle where they just act sleepy, and that’s the only thing that happens,” said Dr. Farmer.

T.B.I.’s can occur from many types of accidents, not just sports related. Some accidents include falling down the stairs, a fall on the playground, or a car crash.

The most common type of brain injury is a concussion. Unfortunately, there are no lab tests that can diagnose it.

Columbia Public Schools’ athletic trainer told ABC 17 that it’s not always a big hit that can cause injury, but the whiplash and rattling of the brain, which sometimes can occur from a small blow to the head.

Athletic trainer Stefanie West said, “It’s when they get one in eighth grade football, and then they get one when they get here as a freshman, and then they get another one in the summer because they had a bike wreck and they start kind of compounding. That’s when we get a little more concerned about long-term issues with the brain.”

Both experts told ABC 17 that it’s the parents job to watch their child and see if they are not acting normal. The symptoms can be the same as the flu.

To learn more, you can find the CDC link here.