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Pathophysiology of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

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Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

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Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is named the most complex disease in the most complex organ in the body. TBI is extremely heterogeneous and so is the underlying pathophysiology. At the time of impact, the primary brain injury results in neuronal, vascular, and glial damage. This primary injury is exacerbated by complex processes leading to progressive brain injury including brain edema and increased intracranial pressure, worsening white matter injury, reduced cerebral blood flow, and a reduced capacity for ATP generation. Furthermore, complex local and systemic inflammatory responses ensue and these may contribute to worsening brain injury. Understanding of the secondary and late injury processes is key in developing novel treatment targets and for correct clinical assessment of the patient. In this chapter, the crucial pathophysiological events occurring in TBI are summarized.

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Further Reading

  • Shetty AK, Mishra V, Kodali M, Hattiangady B. Blood brain barrier dysfunction and delayed neurological deficits in mild traumatic brain injury induced by blast shock waves. Front Cell Neurosci. 2014;8:232. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2014.00232. eCollection 2014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Neurosurgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    Niklas Marklund

  2. Turku Brain Injury Centre, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

    Olli Tenovuo

  3. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Olli Tenovuo

Authors
  1. Niklas Marklund
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  2. Olli Tenovuo
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Correspondence to Niklas Marklund .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

    Terje Sundstrøm

  2. Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

    Per-Olof Grände

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

    Teemu Luoto

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Christina Rosenlund

  5. Department of Operation and Intensive Care, Halmstad Hospital, Halmstad, Sweden

    Johan Undén

  6. Department of Clinical Medicine K1, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Knut Gustav Wester

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Marklund, N., Tenovuo, O. (2020). Pathophysiology of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. In: Sundstrøm, T., Grände, PO., Luoto, T., Rosenlund, C., Undén, J., Wester, K. (eds) Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39383-0_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39383-0_6

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