1.4 Explain the difference between a traumatic brain injury and other forms of acquired brain injury

This guide will help you answer 1.4 Explain the difference between a traumatic brain injury and other forms of acquired brain injury.

Acquired brain injury (ABI) covers all injuries to the brain that occur after birth. ABIs are very different from congenital brain injuries, which happen before or during birth. This includes all events that harm the brain after a person is born. The damage can happen for a range of reasons, such as trauma, disease, or a lack of oxygen.

ABIs can change how a person thinks, moves, communicates, feels, or behaves. These changes can be short-term or long-term, mild or severe. Every injury is unique.

Traumatic Brain Injury Explained

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a type of ABI. It always involves a force or physical event that harms the brain. TBIs can be caused by:

• Falls (the most common cause, especially in older adults and young children)
• Car or traffic collisions
• Physical assaults
• Sports injuries (such as concussion from contact sports)
• Objects striking the head (like being hit with a hard object)
• Explosions or blasts (more common in military settings)

The force travels through the skull and into the brain, causing trauma. This might be a blow, a jolt, or something that pierces the skull.

Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries

TBI can range from mild to severe. Some common forms include:

• Concussion: Usually minor, can cause temporary confused thinking or memory loss
• Contusion: Bruising of brain tissue, may result from a direct blow
• Penetrating injury: When an object breaks through the skull into the brain
• Coup-contrecoup injury: Brain is injured at the point of impact and the opposite side
• Diffuse axonal injury: Damage to brain cells caused by shaking or rotation (like in car crashes or shaking injuries in babies)

Physical trauma triggers the injury, but the effect can spread across the brain. Swelling and bleeding may follow, leading to further brain damage.

Symptoms of TBI

These might appear at once or develop over hours or days:

• Loss of consciousness (from seconds to hours)
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Difficulty remembering things
• Confusion
• Slurred speech
• Changes in sleeping patterns
• Emotional or behavioural changes (irritability, sadness, anger)
• Muscle weakness or numbness

Severe TBIs may lead to coma, lasting disability, or death.

Other Types of Acquired Brain Injury

Not all ABIs are caused by physical force. There are other ways the brain can be injured after birth. These include:

• Lack of oxygen (known as hypoxic or anoxic brain injury)
• Illness or infections (such as encephalitis or meningitis)
• Strokes (reduction of blood supply to the brain)
• Brain tumours
• Poisoning (from alcohol, drugs, or chemicals)
• Blood clots (thrombosis)
• Metabolic issues (low blood sugar can damage the brain)
• Brain haemorrhages (bleeding in or around the brain)

These are often called non-traumatic ABIs.

Hypoxic or Anoxic Brain Injury

An injury caused by reduced or absent oxygen flow to the brain.

• Causes: Drowning, suffocation, cardiac arrest, severe asthma, respiratory failure
• Symptoms: Memory loss, trouble with coordination, problems concentrating, changes in personality

Brain cells can only survive for a few minutes without oxygen. The longer the brain goes without oxygen, the greater the damage.

Strokes

Happen when blood supply is blocked (ischaemic stroke) or a blood vessel bursts (haemorrhagic stroke).

• Can cause memory problems, paralysis, speech problems, and altered mood
• Fast action is needed to reduce long-term effects

Infection

Certain infections can injure the brain.

• Meningitis: Infection of the protective covering of the brain and spinal cord
• Encephalitis: Infection causing swelling of brain tissue

These injuries can range from mild to life-threatening. Some people recover fully; others have long-lasting effects.

Tumours and Cancer

Brain tumours may cause pressure or direct injury to brain tissue.

• Can be primary (starting in the brain) or secondary (spreading from elsewhere)
• Treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy) can also damage healthy brain cells

Toxins or Chemical Exposure

Substances such as drugs, alcohol, solvents or heavy metals can all damage brain tissue.

• Symptoms vary but often include confusion, vision changes, loss of coordination, and memory problems
• Effects depend on the type and amount of substance

Key Differences Between Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Acquired Brain Injuries

Knowing how these brain injuries differ is important for support, treatment and care. Here are the main areas of difference:

Cause

• TBI happens when an outside force impacts the brain, like falls, blows, or blasts.
• Non-traumatic ABI results from internal causes such as stroke, infections, tumours, and lack of oxygen.

Mechanism of Injury

• TBI involves physical trauma. The force is external. It can happen in a single event—one moment in time that causes the injury.
• Other ABI does not involve physical trauma. The injury comes from disease, pressure, toxins or lack of oxygen.

Symptoms and Patterns

• Both types can have similar symptoms: confusion, headaches, memory loss, mood changes, weakness.
• TBI often leads to physical symptoms right away. Bleeding, swelling, and loss of consciousness are more common.
• Other ABI causes may be more gradual. For example, a tumour can grow over months. Stroke causes sudden changes; hypoxia may have delayed effects.

Recovery

• TBI recovery can begin quickly but may take a long time.
• Non-traumatic ABI recovery depends on cause. For example, stroke recovery involves physical therapy and medication. Infection-related injuries need antibiotics and rest.
• Both can lead to permanent disability.

Risk Factors

• TBI: More common in young people (through sport or accidents) or older people (higher fall risk).
• Non-traumatic ABI: Risk influenced by lifestyle (smoking, unhealthy diet), medical history (high blood pressure, diabetes), age, and environment.

Medical Management

• Treatment for TBI often requires emergency care first—like controlling bleeding or swelling.
• Treatment for non-traumatic ABI may involve medicines, surgery, or specific therapies. An infection needs antibiotics. A tumour may need surgery or radiotherapy.

Long-Term Effects

• Brain injuries of both kinds can cause long-term effects, including physical disability, changes in thinking, difficulty with emotions, and difficulty with daily tasks.
• Some people make a good recovery, while others may need support for life.

Examples of Each

Example of TBI

A young man hits his head in a cycling accident. He is unconscious for a few minutes. At hospital, a scan shows a bruise on his brain. He is treated and regains consciousness, but he struggles with memory and mood changes for some time.

Example of Non-Traumatic ABI

An older woman suffers a stroke. She suddenly finds she cannot speak and has weakness on one side of her body. She does not recover her speech fully and struggles with moving her arm.

Comparing Traumatic and Non-Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury

Below is a direct comparison between TBI and other types of ABI:

Feature	Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)	Non-Traumatic Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
Cause	Blow, jolt, or physical trauma to the head	Illness, stroke, tumour, oxygen loss, infections
Suddenness	Usually sudden	Can be sudden or gradual
Symptoms	Immediate: loss of consciousness, confusion, bleeding, headaches	Variable: may be delayed or gradual, depend on cause
Visible Injury	Sometimes (bruising, cuts)	Often no visible injury
Treatment	Emergency care, surgery, rehab	Medication, therapy, surgery, rehab
Long-term Effects	Possible permanent disability	Possible permanent disability

Correct Identification

Knowing the type of brain injury is very important for workers in health and social care. Correct identification leads to the right care plan. The needs of a person who has had a brain injury from a fall can be very different from a person with a brain tumour or infection. For example:

• TBI may involve physical rehabilitation, management of behaviour, and monitoring for late effects like epilepsy.
• Someone with a stroke may need speech and language therapy, physical rehabilitation, and medication management.
• Brain infection needs strict medical follow-up to avoid complications.

Person-centred care means adapting support to the injury and the person’s changing needs.

How Support Can Differ After Injury

Health and social care workers play a key role in helping people with brain injuries. Support tasks might involve:

• Assessing daily living skills (dressing, eating, washing)
• Helping with communication or memory problems
• Offering emotional support and mental health input
• Supporting family and friends to understand the injury
• Finding suitable accommodation or activities

The right support improves life after both TBI and other ABIs.

Final Thoughts

The difference between traumatic brain injury and other forms of acquired brain injury lies mainly in their cause and pathway. TBIs are always caused by a direct trauma to the brain, creating unique and sometimes immediate symptoms. Other ABIs occur through internal factors: stroke, infection, lack of oxygen, toxins, or tumours. Despite this, both types can result in similar wide-ranging effects on a person’s life.

Recognising these differences is important in health and social care. By understanding the type and cause of a brain injury, workers can better support each individual. This helps ensure that people receive the help, treatment, and care that fits their needs and circumstances. Everyone’s experience of brain injury is unique, but with the right knowledge, support, and understanding, people can reach their best possible recovery and live full lives.