Case history
Case history #1
An 18-year-old man hit his head against a goal frame the previous day while playing football. He presents with overall good orientation, but reports feeling "slow" with a severe headache and limited memory for the events occurring immediately before and after the impact. He also describes feeling worse now than he did immediately after the impact. He has no visible head injury and did not lose consciousness, but does report sensitivity to light and sound.
Case history #2
A 43-year-old woman was a seat-belted driver of a car stopped at a red light that was rear ended by a truck travelling at approximately 50 km/h (30 mph). She remembers everything up to and including the event, but her memory for events after being struck is suspect for the details of the rest of the day. She further reports feeling dizzy and nauseated, as well as feeling both emotional (both laughing and crying for no reason) and extremely irritable. After the crash she went to the accident and emergency department, where she had a computed tomographic scan, the results of which were normal.
Other presentations
A mild traumatic brain injury can present with symptoms varying from the more typically reported headaches and memory complaints, to less typical presentations of loss of consciousness, feeling anxious, and vomiting.
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