Personal Injury Law

Traumatic Brain Injury - Hopeful Therapy For The Future

As Georgia injury lawyers we have seen the devastating effects of brain injuries which often result from automobile and truck accidents as well as on-the-job (workers compensation) injuries. A person who sustains a severe head injury and gets immediate, expert treatment has a better chance of having a more satisfactory outcome.

New research is being done with respect to effective treatment of head injuries immediately following head trauma. It has been reported in BioMed Central?s Journal of Biological Engineering that severe brain injury due to blunt force trauma could be reduced by application of a simple polymer, Polyethylene glycol or PEG, mixed in sterile water and injected into the blood stream. Andrew Koob and Richard Borgens from Purdue University, Indiana, performed experiments in rats which showed that PEG was effective in limiting damage if administered within four hours after the head injury. However, if treatment was delayed for a further two hours, the beneficial effects were lost. During the experiment, rats were injured with a falling weight and then PEG was administered fifteen minutes, two hours, four hours, or six hours later. The authors then carried out a series of behaviourial tests on the rats to determine the effectiveness of the PEG treatment.
According to Borgens, "These data suggest that PEG may be clinically useful to victims of traumatic brain injury if delivered as rapidly as possible after an injury". Such a treatment could be feasibly be carried out at the scene of an accident where PEG could be delivered as a component of IV fluids thus reducing long term brain injury.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on October 12, 2008 (boomark / email).