Within nine minutes of touchdown of the helicopter and about one hour from leaving the other hospital, the blood clot was out. The child's pupillary responses returned to normal on the operating table, and he was neurologically intact the following morning. He returned home with his family six days later. After surgery, scan shows the pressure relieved. Neurotrauma is an epidemic based on accidents and violence.
Neurological trauma causes thousands of deaths and devastating irreversible tragedies annually.
Because it afflicts many perfectly healthy young people, the productive years lost as a result of its ravages are particularly high. About half of the 150,000 trauma-caused deaths in the United States each year are due to fatal brain injuries. An additional 10,000 persons sustain spinal cord injuries each year, resulting in loss of motor control, sensation, and bowel and bladder control. Human brains and spinal cords tolerate the usual shock of bumps from playground falls, soccer balls, and unexpected low doorways fairly well. Death or a vegetative state may result.