What Causes Brain Injury?

Accidents can lead to several types of injuries, depending on their severity and the location of the impact. Common personal injuries that accident victims often grapple with are brain injuries. These come in many forms, including anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries.

They differ from traumatic brain injuries that arise from direct physical trauma in the brain. Instead, anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries happen when there is oxygen deprivation in the brain. A San Antonio personal injury lawyer explains these types of damages, the signs to look out for, and what to do about them.

Major Causes of Brain Injuries

Causes of these injuries often include:

  • Drug overdose
  • Anesthesia-related accidents
  • Stroke
  • Heart attack
  • Strangulation
  • Carbon monoxide inhalation and poisoning

Other causes of anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries, such as slip and fall accidents, car crashes, and workplace hazards, are entirely preventable. Medical malpractice, for example, birth injury and surgical error, are other significant sources of the injuries.

What is Anoxic Brain Injury?

An anoxic brain injury occurs when there is a complete cut-off of oxygen from the brain. Oxygen deprivation to the brain for more than four minutes can lead to the death of brain cells, resulting in what doctors call brain dead. Only in scarce circumstances can a victim of anoxic brain injury recover.

However, if anoxic brain injury occurs due to a lack of oxygen for less than four minutes, the patient can recover, albeit slowly. The recovery will also be marked with various symptoms of such extensive injury.

Understanding how anoxic brain injury occurs is crucial when pursuing a personal injury claim against the at-fault party. It would help to consult a skilled San Antonio brain injury lawyer on how to file a lawsuit, depending on how the injury happened.

Symptoms of Anoxic Brain Injury

A victim of anoxic brain injury could have the following symptoms during recovery:

  • Chronic headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Severe confusion
  • Difficulty remembering things

What is Hypoxic Brain Injury?

Hypoxic brain injuries are severe and happen when the brain lacks oxygen to a certain extent. While the brain may still have access to some oxygen, the amount isn’t enough and could severely affect the brain, sometimes leading to a coma for days, weeks, or months.

Symptoms of Hypoxic Brain Injury

Symptoms of hypoxic brain injury are closely similar to those of anoxic brain injury, including:

  • Troubled vision
  • Difficulty remembering things
  • Seizures
  • Inability to move their arms and legs
  • Trouble with fine motor skills

While the symptoms are not as severe as those of anoxic brain injury, they can significantly affect the patient’s life and prevent them from living normally. If you or your loved one was a victim of hypoxic brain injury due to someone else’s negligence, contact an experienced brain injury attorney in San Antonio. They can help you pursue compensation for the damages.

What Are the Types of Anoxic or Hypoxic Brain Injuries?

Anoxic and hypoxic brain injuries vary in type and severity and fall into the following categories:

  • Anoxic anoxia: It happens when there is insufficient oxygen to the brain and body due to suffocation or altitude sickness
  • Anemic anoxia: This type is caused by inadequate oxygen supply due to the inability of the hemoglobin to carry oxygen
  • Toxic anoxia: It results from toxins or substances that curtail the supply of oxygen, such as cyanide, alcohol, or carbon monoxide
  • Stagnant hypoxia: It happens due to inadequate oxygen supply to the brain due to the reduction of cerebral blood flow or pressure, for example, due to stroke or heart attack

What Are the Effects of Anoxic or Hypoxic Brain Injuries?

The effects of anoxic or hypoxic brain injury can range from mild to severe, depending on the extent of the damage. They include:

  • Dizziness
  • Concentration difficulties
  • Abnormal movements
  • Vision, speech, and memory loss

The body responds by increasing blood flow to the brain to restore the correct oxygen supply. If it cannot restore the brain blood flow to twice the average level, brain function becomes disturbed, and the symptoms become apparent. As with other types of brain injury, it’s also possible that the patient develops challenging emotional and behavioral problems.

These include a reduced ability to tolerate stress, increased agitation, and a higher risk of depression. The impact leads to lower life quality, inability to work and earn a living, and loss of association. Let a skilled brain injury attorney in San Antonio help you file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for the damages.

What Could an Anoxic or Hypoxic Brain Injury Settlement Mean for You?

Brain injuries are devastating, and the long-term changes can be hard to live with, both for the injured person and their families. In many ways, brain injury victims never fully return to their life before the injury.

The monetary settlement from a brain injury lawsuit can go a long way in securing a better health outcome for the patient. It could also provide crucial assistance to those around the patient so they don’t have to be financially constrained when giving care. A legal settlement for the damages could help cover the following:

  • Medical bills
  • Lost wages and loss of earning capacity
  • Pain and suffering
  • Emotional trauma
  • Punitive damages
  • Wrongful death expenses for surviving loved ones

Legal Guidance on the Results You Want and Deserve

Lack of oxygen to the brain can result in irreversible damage and life-long challenges that require extensive medical care. Care, treatment, and rehabilitation for a brain injury victim are expensive, so you should fight to recover compensation from the liable party. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney in San Antonio for legal representation and counsel.

At The Law Offices of Matthew S. Norris, we aggressively fight for the rights of those who have been injured in negligence cases. We know these cases can be complex, but we have a way around them to pursue the maximum compensation our clients deserve. Call us at (210) 549-7633 to get award-winning assistance with your brain injury lawsuit.