Brain Injury Lawyer

I just received the March 2006 issue of Brain Injury which is the official publication of the International Brain Injury Association. There's a very interesting article by Fiona Maskell and her colleagues at the University of New Castle, New Castle, Australia. The article involved an overview and measurement of dizziness after traumatic brain injury.

As I have posted in previous blogs, the incidence of dizziness has been reported in up to 80% of cases within the first few days after a traumatic brain injury. The authors reviewed the applicable literature to delineate "The prevalence of dizziness as a symptom, impairments causing dizziness, the functional limitations it causes and its measurement."

The authors acknowledge that dizziness is a very nonspecific item which includes vague symptoms of disorientation and lightheadedness as well as the more clear-cut symptoms of vertigo and imbalance. The authors place the symptom into four broad categories which are:

1.Vertigo
2.Pre-syncopal lightheadedness
3.Multi-sensory dizziness
4.Psycho-physiologic dizziness

Interestingly, dizziness after TBI with children was also found to be significant. In one large series of children with TBI, 46% had immediate objective signs and 18% had signs persisting for 2-8 years. The authors conclude that research on the functional impact of dizziness in the TBI population and measurements of these symptoms is warranted. Brain Injury, March 2006; 20 (3); 293-305.