Car Accident Victims with Brain Injury Could Benefit from Aggressive Treatment

Expensive forms of treatment for brain injury like invasive surgery, could be costly in the short-term, but lead to better outcomes for patients in Burbank. According to a study by researchers at the University Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, aggressive treatments on a 20-year-old patient cost as much as $100,000 less over the long-term, and led to better patient outcomes.

The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The researchers compared aggressive treatment with more routine care. The biggest focus was on the short-term as well as long-term costs of these treatments.

Burbank personal injury lawyers find that the kind of routine care that brain injury patients are typically subjected to is much less expensive, but is widely used. Aggressive treatment costs more, but, according to the researchers, could lead to a much better prognosis for the patient. Aggressive treatments like surgery also help contribute to a better quality life for the patient after the surgery. Additionally, these treatments ensure that the person has lower medical and other costs over the long term.

Invasive surgery as a treatment for brain injury is controversial. Surgeons have been performing decompressive hemicraniectomies for a while now. This is a surgery in which a part of the skull is removed to alleviate pressure on the brain.

The researchers found that the maximum benefits of aggressive treatment for brain injury could be seen in younger patients. However, that doesn’t mean that elderly victims cannot benefit. Even patients in their 80s can benefit to some extent from aggressive treatment.

Approximately 200,000 people are hospitalized in the United States every year after suffering a brain injury. An overwhelming majority of these injuries occur in automobile accidents, as a result of slip and fall accidents or during violent assaults. These injuries cost the US economy approximately $60 billion a year.