Can You Recover From an Anoxic Brain Injury?

Experiencing an anoxic brain injury, where the brain receives too little oxygen and suffers harm as a result, can be devastating. You might lose your ability to move, think, or care for yourself, and you may face overwhelming medical debt as you strive to regain your former abilities. 

But can you recover from an anoxic brain injury? Every person’s journey is unique, but with the help of skilled physicians and patience, you or your loved one may be able to recover from an anoxic brain injury.

The traumatic brain injury attorneys at the Brain Injury Law Center may be able to help you if you or your family member suffered an anoxic brain injury due to negligence. If you are ready to discuss your options, fill out the online form or call (757) 244-7000 today.

Understanding Anoxic Brain Injury 

The term “anoxic” means an absence of oxygen, and having enough oxygen flowing to the brain is critical for its function and health. 

When you experience something such as a heart attack, drowning, or excessive bleeding, your brain does not get the oxygen it needs, and its cells can begin to die. While you may survive the life-threatening incident, you could still suffer brain damage that substantially affects you going forward.

The difference between hypoxia and anoxia is that in hypoxia, the brain receives too little oxygen, whereas in anoxia, the brain receives no oxygen at all. Depending on the circumstances, only part of the brain may suffer, but victims usually suffer global anoxic brain injury involving the entire brain. After such an event, your recovery depends on many factors, including:

• How long the anoxia lasted
• Your overall health before the incident
• Whether you experienced another injury during the event
• Whether the event involved all or part of your brain
• How quickly you were treated after your injury
• The quality of care you received after your injury

Since each case differs, your doctors will closely monitor your treatment response to assess your recovery. You may require surgery, medications, physical and cognitive therapy, and additional care. 

While you may never return to your previous abilities, your recovery’s success depends on having high-quality medical care, strong support from your friends and family, and the financial resources to continue your treatment. 

Anoxic Brain Damage Causes

People of all ages can be victims of anoxic brain injury. Without any oxygen flowing into the brain, the cells start to die within four minutes, and irreversible damage happens after five minutes of anoxia.

Labor and Delivery Errors at Birth 

Pregnant people must receive close supervision throughout their pregnancies, especially during labor and delivery. When doctors or nurses fail to monitor the parent and child for sudden issues correctly, the fetus can experience hypoxia or anoxia, leading to conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP). This disorder can result in various developmental problems, affecting the child’s speech, cognition, eating, communication, and physical abilities. 

In the most serious cases, anoxia can lead to the child’s death. This may happen during the delivery, or it could occur in the following days. A caregiver’s negligence could leave the child in a vegetative state, forcing the parents to make a heart-wrenching decision about their baby’s life.

Vehicle Accidents

Moving vehicles, whether passenger cars, commercial trucks, or motorcycles, often cause substantial injuries. Unprotected modes of transportation, like bikes, scooters, or motorcycles, often throw their riders into oncoming traffic or against other objects, causing head trauma or significant bleeding. The vehicle may crush pedestrians under it, causing catastrophic injuries.

Even a relatively minor accident could cause a victim to bleed internally. This “silent” injury can be very dangerous since the victim may feel fine immediately after the crash, yet blood is pooling inside their abdominal cavity. It is no longer circulating as needed, putting them at risk of hypoxia, anoxia, and death.

Heart Attack or Stroke

The stress and trauma of a vehicle accident could lead to a heart attack or stroke, resulting in anoxia. Additionally, assaults or burglaries, forced physical activity by caregivers or others, or medical negligence in a nursing home could cause these attacks. For instance, if the staff at a rehabilitative care facility neglects or refuses to provide oxygen therapy, you may receive insufficient oxygen, resulting in anoxic damage.

Medical Negligence

You may experience anoxia in other medical settings when providers do not meet the standard of care. For example, when a doctor does not fully review your medical history or fails to give enough credit to your description of your symptoms and concerns, you could develop dangerous conditions. These conditions could result in anemia, heart attacks, or low blood pressure, which can lead to anoxia.

In addition, an anesthesiologist who neglects to maintain the proper mix of gases and medications while you are having surgery could contribute to your anoxic brain injury. Practitioners who prescribe or distribute medications without verifying the dosage, frequency, and interactions with your other medications could put you in danger of anoxia.

In emergencies, you could suffer an anoxic injury when a practitioner fails to intubate you correctly. If you require CPR and the provider does not act quickly enough or continue treatment long enough, you may also experience too little oxygen and develop brain damage due to their lack of action.

Drowning, Choking, or Suffocation

In any environment where you cannot inhale enough oxygen to supply your brain, you could suffer anoxia. This encompasses prolonged submersion in water, choking on an object, or exposure to harmful gases that could lower the oxygen level in the air.

If someone who knows you can’t swim pushes you off a dock or puts you on a boat without enough life preservers, you may have a valid claim against those responsible for your anoxic brain injury. 

Likewise, suppose you stay in a vacation cabin where the owner has not installed a carbon monoxide detector, unbeknownst to you. If you and your family experience sickness and brain injury due to high carbon monoxide levels, you should consult with a brain injury attorney to discuss the possibility of filing a lawsuit.

If you suffer from anoxic brain injury due to domestic violence, assault, or other malicious actions, you may find some solace in the arrest of the perpetrator. However, this does not satisfy your need for compensation, and you may have grounds to file a civil action to secure financial relief for the harm they caused you. 

Symptoms and Conditions Associated With Anoxic Brain Injury

During an emergency such as a severe car accident or gunshot wound, it is often clear that bleeding may lead to further injury and death. Loss of blood pressure and the resulting lack of oxygen to the brain may add anoxia to the list of medical concerns. However, in certain cases, medical providers may fail to recognize the patient’s oxygen deprivation, leading to anoxic brain injury.

Practitioners, patients, and family members need to look for indications of hypoxia or anoxia. The following scenarios are common signs of anoxic brain injury:

• Loses consciousness or has difficulty staying awake
• Falls into a coma
• Complains of headaches
• Has muscle weakness in their arms and legs
• Exhibits reduced coordination or spasms
• Finds it difficult to concentrate or pay attention to conversations
• Has trouble recalling the event or other memories
• Struggles to make themselves understood or understand others, whether through speech or writing

Unfortunately, unless the patient receives immediate critical care, it could take several hours or days before family members or the patient realize something is wrong. At that point, the patient lost valuable time, during which doctors could have mitigated the damage. They may suffer longer-term injuries after anoxia, including:

• Noticeable personality or temperament change, including increased disinterest or anger
• Physical impairments, such as coordination problems or weakened limbs
• Sleep disorders such as insomnia, excessive sleepiness, sleep paralysis, or incontinence
• Dizziness or difficulty walking straight
• Headaches
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Sensitivity to light, sound, or touch
• Nausea and vomiting
• Seizures
• Memory loss
• Change in risk aversion, such as taking more chances or making poor decisions

Sometimes, the first indication of an anoxic brain injury is when family members, friends, or coworkers report the patient “doesn’t seem like themselves.” 

It is important to closely monitor individuals who may have experienced oxygen deprivation and take note of any behavioral changes or health issues. Keeping a journal of your recovery or asking a family member to do so could aid your doctors in identifying anoxic injury and provide valuable evidence for your attorney if you need to pursue legal action.

Anoxic Brain Injury Treatment

Upon suspicion or diagnosis of an anoxic brain injury, the patient must receive immediate medical attention. If you are the victim, you should ask someone to take you to your local emergency room or call an ambulance since driving yourself could be extremely dangerous. Once there, emergency staff will verify your condition and begin treatment, which can include any of the following therapies or diagnostic procedures:

Life Support and Stabilization

After your admission, your doctor will likely administer oxygen therapy to enhance the support for your brain and other organs. Your doctor will refer to the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to assess your injury’s severity and consciousness level. To do so, they will check your verbal, motor, and eye responses, which allows them to determine a score that informs their treatment decisions.

Your doctor may recommend therapeutic hypothermia, which decreases your body temperature and allows the brain to reduce its metabolic needs. By giving your brain a “rest,” it may cope better with the aftereffects of the anoxic event. 

Your doctor will closely monitor you during this treatment, ensuring your other organs do not suffer damage and your blood pressure does not fall too low. Once you are stabilized, your treatment team will begin further diagnostic testing to determine the extent of the damage so they can plan your recovery.  

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

When doctors suspect anoxic brain injury, one of the main tools they use is a diffusion-weighted MRI. This scan helps doctors see the areas in the brain that are affected. The damage from a lack of oxygen often shows up in two key areas: the basal ganglia and the cortex. By looking at the results, doctors can get a good idea of how serious the injury is, what the possible outcomes might be, and what the best steps are for treatment.

Resting State Imaging

Doctors traditionally conduct MRIs when the patient is alert and awake to view which sections of the brain “light up” in response to questions or stimuli. However, a new technique may allow physicians to get a clearer picture of anoxic or other brain injuries and use the brain’s inherent neuroplasticity to heal damage.

Resting-state imaging requires sedation, so the patient is perfectly still during imaging. This is invaluable for those who cannot answer questions because they have lost communication abilities or cannot remain still due to damaged motor control. This technique provides new hope for brain injury victims and their future recovery.  

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

You will likely be connected to an electroencephalogram (EEG) to monitor your brain function and record any unusual reactions, such as seizures. By conducting various tests while you are connected to the EEG, your doctor can evoke somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) by using touch, sound, light, or movement to measure the brain’s response and what areas were damaged.

Recovering from an anoxic brain injury is possible, but it’s not easy. The road to healing can be long and challenging, and every step requires patience, hard work, and the right support.

 

While some people do recover, it’s important to know that progress may come slowly, and the path forward will likely involve ongoing medical care, therapy, and adjustments to your daily life. At the Brain Injury Law Center, we are here to see you through this difficult time and fight for your physical and financial recovery. Contact our team online or call (757) 244-7000 to chat with us about how we can forge a path alongside you to protect your health and future.

Anoxic Brain Injury Recovery Time

Can you recover from an anoxic brain injury? It depends. Every case will be different, and your anoxic brain injury recovery depends on your overall health when you were injured, how quickly you receive emergency care, the severity of your injuries, and the quality of your treatment. 

There is no guarantee of a full recovery, but many victims can resume some aspects of their lives, although with some changes and assistance. When patients cannot work or care for themselves, they may need full-time nursing specialists for a lifetime, and your brain injury lawyer can account for these costs in your personal injury lawsuit.

Your recovery time may take a few weeks, or it could require years of rehabilitation. You will likely undergo physical and occupational therapy to regain the ability to walk, talk, or do other daily activities we often take for granted. It can be frustrating, but many patients can overcome their initial limitations with the support of family members and friends.

Legal Options When Negligence Results in Anoxic Brain Injury

Many victims suffer anoxic brain injury as the result of a car crash, assault, or other action where another person was negligent, careless, or even malicious.

When someone is at fault for the devastating effects of anoxic brain injury, you deserve to hold them accountable through legal action.

While you recover from your injury, your legal team will assess the defendant’s actions and link the trauma to your injuries. They will update you on the progress, reducing your stress and worry about your case. When necessary, we may move from negotiations to a trial when the evidence is robust and likely to persuade a jury in your favor.

Potential Damages From an Anoxic Brain Injury Lawsuit

The brain is an extremely complicated organ, easily susceptible to injury but astoundingly capable of reprogramming itself to overcome damage. 

While you may be able to recover fully or even substantially, there is no question that suffering an anoxic brain injury will leave you with large medical bills and other costs.

Determining your claim’s full value requires a thorough investigation and assessment of all your expenses and the pain and suffering you felt throughout your recovery. Your brain injury lawyer will help you calculate every penny you are owed for the various types of damages you may be awarded in a brain injury lawsuit:

• All medical bills, including hospital costs, ER, ICU, and surgical costs
• Medications and medical devices
• Lost income and earning capacity
• Physical, speech, occupational, and other therapies
• Emotional trauma and mental anguish
• Permanent disability
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Burial and funeral expenses if your loved one died due to an anoxic brain injury
  

Losses with a specific monetary value are considered economic damages, while those reflecting your pain and suffering are called non-economic. 

Some states may limit non-economic damage awards, and your brain injury attorney can advise you if this applies to your case. When the at-fault party’s actions were malicious or grossly negligent, the court may elect to award punitive damages to the plaintiff or a deceased plaintiff’s family.

The Brain Injury Law Center Is Dedicated to Securing Maximum Compensation for You

At the Brain Injury Law Center, Attorney Stephen M. Smith has built a team committed to your well-being and full financial recovery from at-fault parties. Since we focus exclusively on brain injury cases, we have a deep understanding of the laws that apply to them. We focus solely on brain injury cases, securing multi-million dollar settlements and jury verdicts for our past clients. 

As soon as you hire us, we can swiftly investigate and prepare the evidence to file your personal injury lawsuit against the liable individuals or institutions. We collaborate with medical experts to ensure you have the needed treatment and to provide expert testimony about your injuries and projected expenses. We also interview witnesses, collect evidence, and manage insurance claims on your behalf. 

We understand how devastating these injuries can be for you and your family. We know you need every bit of compensation available to cover your doctor bills, lost wages, future medical costs, and other expenses. 

Contact us today online or at (757) 244-7000 to arrange a 100% free consultation and learn more about how we can help you.

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