Contusions of the brain and concussion are among the most characteristic injuries causing both direct and indirect damage to this organ. The lesion is accompanied by point hemorrhages, swelling, and vascular disorders. Shock and disorder of the centers of the medulla oblongata and vegetative nervous system are typical for tremors. Contusions of the brain represent one of the common injuries that people can get during hostilities, as well as it can turn into a trauma after accident and attack.
The head is one of the most important organs of the human body. Even in the most lightly armed forces from immemorial time specialists tried to protect it. In this case, a contusion of the brain represents the most frequent injury that people receive during the war. Therefore, it is spread in countries where active military actions take place (Scremin, Li & Scremin, 2007). It should be borne in mind that in addition to bullet and shrapnel wounds, as well as contusions due to close gaps, in combat conditions including the field, the trench, and during work with armored vehicles military men risk injuring their heads when they strike hard objects of the environment. Such strokes can cause head injuries, chopped head wounds and cause a serious deterioration of health and even death of the victim. According to statistics, the number of head injuries due to its blunt injury has corresponded approximately to the number of gunshot with the exception of the active offensive phase of the fighting.
The military must be in the path of the hurting projectile without body armor and helmet to get a bullet and shrapnel wound. The shock wave that causes a contusion spreads in all directions from the side of the explosion by causing contusions of the brain and concussion among all people who have been in the epicenter (Hutchinson, 2004). Unlike injuries, contusion, as well as concussions of the brain has a cumulative effect of damage to the central nervous system by becoming more devastating from every subsequent strike. Wounds and injuries traditionally cause heightened attention, and the basic algorithms for their treatment are fairly well known. Contusions, especially in a combat situation, are often neglected by both the injured themselves and the medical staff. The nature of the injury most strongly affects the severity of the symptoms. Shrapnel wounds are the most severe form of it.
Severe contusions can cause loss of consciousness, convulsions, respiratory and cardiovascular disorders. A consequence of contusions is very dangerous in combat situations that include increased motor activity, and uncontrolled arousal of a soldier. In this case, it acts as a significant destabilizing factor for the whole unit (Jancic, 2010). The military can create problems for the entire unit by losing control over the actions. Depending on the severity, the specialists distinguish three degrees of contusion. With mild contusion, the wounded may feel trembling of the limbs, head, and stuttering, staggering, and hearing loss. For contusion of moderate severity, incomplete paralysis of the limbs, partial and complete deafness, impaired speech, and the lack of reaction of the pupils to light are main ways of manifestation (Yuan, 2017). Severe contusion is accompanied by loss of consciousness, intermittent and convulsive breathing. Blood is secreted from the nose, ears and mouth, and convulsions and involuntary movements of the limbs are possible.
Any injury to the head can cause brain damage. With brain injuries, a change in neurons appears, which occurs as a response to a mechanical effect. At the same time, the skull is sharply displaced. This situation can lead to stretching the meninges when the brain moves by inertia after the bones of the skull. A collision of the cerebral hemispheres with the inner surface of the bone, which leads to the infringement of the vessels carrying out the blood supply to this organ, occurs. With a strong impact, the surface tissues of the brain are damaged by causing loss of consciousness. Brain damage is accompanied by the formation of a bruise. Many people, who have suffered from concussion of the brain, lose consciousness for a period of 1 to 10 minutes (Gahm, Holmin & Mathiesen, 2002). Upon return of consciousness, nausea, tinnitus, vomiting, weakness, headache, dizziness are noted. Symptoms of intracranial hemorrhage usually appear 2 hours after the injury. Repeating vomiting after injury is a sign of severe intracranial damage.
The main condition for effective treatment is to ensure complete rest for the victim. If an infection is suspected, intramuscular injections of penicillin are needed every 3 hours (Mimata, Tasaki & Nomura, 2000). To lower the intracranial pressure, a glucose solution is injected intravenously. In case of pain, the specialists have to provide victim with painkillers. The military is most affected by this trauma during battles. At the same time, an individual can also get this injury due to robbery.
Any person, regardless of place of residence and lifestyle, can receive a contusion of the brain. However, this injury is “professional” for military that are ready to sacrifice life to save the motherland. Contusions of the brain represent one of the common injuries that people can get during hostilities, as well as it can turn into a trauma after accident and attack. Therefore, medical staff should make every effort to provide timely assistance to victims.
References Gahm, C., Holmin, S., & Mathiesen, T. (2002). Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression after Human Brain Contusion. Neurosurgery, 50(6), 1319-1326. doi: 10.1097/00006123-200206000-00024 Hutchinson, K. (2004). Three exercise paradigms differentially improve sensory recovery after spinal cord contusion in rats. Brain, 127(6), 1403-1414. doi: 10.1093/brain/awh160 Jancic, J. (2010). Predictive value of multimodal evoked potentials in brain contusion qualification. Clinical Neurophysiology, 121(4), 9. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2009.11.034 Mimata, H., Tasaki, Y., & Nomura, Y. (2000). Emphysematous Cystitis following Brain Contusion. Urologia Internationalis, 64(3), 165-166. doi: 10.1159/000030520 Scremin, O., Li, M., & Scremin, A. (2007). Cortical contusion induces trans-hemispheric reorganization of blood flow maps. Brain Research, 1141, 235-241. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2007.01.006 Yuan, Q. (2017). A New Computed Tomography-based Frontal Contusion Score for Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury. Neurosurgery, 64(CN_suppl_1), 277-277. doi: 10.1093/neuros/nyx417.343