A penetrating brain injury occurs when a fast moving object such as a bullet pierces the skull. Both closed and penetrating brain injuries may result in both localized and diffuse damage to the brain. Facts Each year, an estimated two million people sustain a brain injury. About 500,000 brain injuries each year are severe enough to require hospitalization. Brain injury is most common among males between the ages of 15-24, but can strike at any age.
Many brain injuries are mild, and symptoms usually disappear over time with proper attention.
Others are more severe and may result in permanent disability. Consequences Cognitive Deficits include shortened attention span, short-term memory problems, problem solving or judgment deficits, and the inability to understand abstract concepts. Loss of sense of time and space, as well as decreased awareness of self and others, can occur. Motor Deficits include paralysis, poor balance, lower endurance, reduction in the ability to plan motor movements, delays in initiation, tremors, swallowing problems, and poor coordination. Perceptual Deficits mean possible changes in hearing, vision, taste, smell and touch, loss of sensation of body parts, left or right side of body neglect.