Even though it has hundreds of important safety features, your car continues to be one of the more unsafe places for your child to be. Indeed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 64,000 child passengers suffered injuries in motor vehicle accidents in 2020 alone. Sadly, more than 600 child passengers died in car crashes that year.
Among all possible accident-associated injuries, pediatric traumatic brain injuries are some of the more common ones. While your child’s prognosis likely depends on his or her age and overall health, the extent of the injury is likely to play a major role in his or her ability to make a full recovery. Still, some kids need longer to recover from pediatric TBIs than others.
White matter
Deep inside the human brain is white matter that contains nerve fibers and neurons. A landmark 2017 study found that children with moderate and severe TBIs often had interruptions to this white matter. Alarmingly, these interruptions continued to worsen for up to two years after children sustained their TBIs.
Regrettably, white matter interruption seems to correlate with slower recovery times. Sadly, many children with serious disruptions to their white matter often failed to make a complete recovery.
Medical care
It can be difficult to diagnose pediatric TBIs, especially when children are nonverbal or have undeveloped vocabularies. Therefore, if your child hits his or her head during a car accident, you should seek prompt medical care. When doing so, it may be advisable to push for a brain scan.
Ultimately, to ensure your son or daughter receives top-level medical care, treatment and rehabilitation, you may have to take legal action against the driver who caused the accident that injured your child.
