UNDERSTANDING BRAIN INJURIES
Closed Head Injury
(CHI)
| A closed head injury includes the various types of injuries that occur within the intact skull. These include injuries such as those listed below. The various evolutionary effects from these injuries have a dramatic range from coma and vegetative states to good recovery. With the skull being a closed space, there is little room for the brain to swell. Sometimes an Intracranial Pressure Monitor (ICP Monitor) is placed into the fluid part of the brain (Ventricle) to allow drainage of cerebral spinal fluid to give the brain more room to swell. A large portion of the skull may also be removed to give additional room for brain swelling. |
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CLOSED HEAD INJURIES: These inuries usually cause brain swelling. |
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The image in the top left shows the brain with small hemorrhagic contusions in the left frontal lobe. The image in the middle demonstrates a left temporal epidural hematoma. The image in the bottom left represents a subdural hematoma. Below, the left half of the brain has become swollen from a CHI. The left half of the skull has been removed (an operation called a hemicraniectomy), an ICP monitor was also placed.
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