• Stephen Strasberg, Elizabeth J Johnson, and Thomas Parry.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Bronx, NY.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2016 Mar 1; 34 (3): 685.e3-4.

AbstractTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as impairment in brain function as a result of mechanical force. It is classified based on clinical findings using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). Mild TBI is defined as GCS 14-15; moderate, 9-13; and severe, 3-8. Patients with the same TBI classification may have very different underlying pathology. In moderate to severe TBI, the primary pathology may include contusions, hemorrhage, diffuse axonal injury, direct cellular damage, "tearing and shearing of the tissues, loss of the blood-brain barrier, disruption of the neurochemical homeostasis and loss of the electrochemical function". Although the primary pathology associated with mild TBI may be milder versions of the same pathology associated with moderate and severe TBI, it is generally a metabolic injury. However, it is reported that 15% of patients with mild TBI and a GCS score of 14 or 15 will have an intracranial lesion; less than 1% of these require neurosurgical intervention. Although patients with mild TBI may have intracranial lesions, it is rare that the presenting and only physical examination finding is an isolated neurologic finding. Here we present a case of isolated head trauma with a single physical examination finding--expressive aphasia.

16 keywords...

hide…