What are the Dangers of a Misdiagnosed Brain Injury?

Brain injuries are the most serious kind of injuries that we can experience, with lifelong impacts at stake for even the most benign-looking of injuries. Medical care is essential to ensuring the best chances for recovery, whether for a heavy concussion or the aftermath of a stroke – but what if that primary medical care fails to properly diagnose the injury?

Brain Injuries by Type

First, it is important to understand just how varied brain injuries can be. There are many different potential causes of brain injury, and different classifications that describe them too. The vast majority of brain injuries are ABIs, or acquired brain injuries – simply meaning that the injury has occurred since birth. Of these, only some are TBIs, or traumatic brain injuries. TBIs are a result of traumatic injury, wherein the brain suffers physical injury owing to being struck or penetrated.

Other forms of ABI result from different forms of medical event. A stroke can cause an ABI, for example, as the starving of oxygen from the brain can cause lasting damage. Viral illnesses can cause ABIs, too, particularly where encephalitis is a sub-symptom. 

Misdiagnosis, and Brain Injury

Misdiagnosis is a serious issue within medical systems, and not just in the UK – though the stress the NHS is currently experiencing could indicate increased risk of medical negligence in many primary care facilities. Misdiagnosis of a given condition can allow the condition to ‘flourish’, and with life-altering consequences in the worst-case scenario.

The risk of misdiagnosis is higher with ABIs, give the wide variety of symptoms that can present as a result of contracting one. Many of these symptoms are shared with more common maladies, and in the event of a non-traumatic brain injury, the evidence can be scant. Where a brain injury is missed, the underlying cause of the symptoms – such as swelling on the brain – can continue to wreak havoc, leading to worsening symptoms and reduced likelihood of full recovery.

Recourse and Recovery

After finally receiving the right care for a misdiagnosed brain injury, recovery and recourse will naturally be the two main things on a patient’s mind. With regard to recourse, brain injury claims are the most effective way by which to ensure ensuing costs and losses are covered. However, the process can be long and arduous, and additional support may be necessary to tide the patient over until a settlement or judgement is reached.

This is where charitable and pastoral support both become particularly important. Interstitial financial support can be found from numerous different UK-based charities and non-profits, while having loved ones to lean on all the while can make the renewed process of recovery that little bit easier.

Speaking of which; with the potential worsening of the injury, the journey to recovery can appear much longer – and rehabilitation efforts may need to be increased significantly simply to reverse the damage that was allowed to ‘bed in’ during misdiagnosis. The new prognosis amounting from a worsening of the injury or its symptoms might involve a recognition of life-altering impacts, and a coming-to-peace with a new reality as a disabled patient.