In the hours and days following a child’s brain injury, parents are consumed with the injury’s level of severity, as well as what kind of long-term effects the injury may have. They are concerned about their child’s future, and with good reason.

As a general rule of thumb, if your child is awake and conscious 30 minutes after the head trauma, the odds are in your favor that she has sustained no more than a mild or moderate brain injury. The signs and symptoms of severe brain injury are typically quite obvious.

A severe brain injury results in a coma or lack of unconsciousness that lasts up to a few weeks. In some cases a severe brain injury can cause death. In other situations, severe brain injury can cause significant long-term disabilities.

When your child goes into the emergency room in an unconscious state, doctors will examine her to distinguish between three states:

1. Coma. The child is unaware and unresponsive, usually with eyes closed. A coma lasts no longer than four weeks.
2. Vegetative state. The child is unaware of what is going on around her, but may have normal sleep/wake cycles and digestive cycles. They eyes are typically open. If the vegetative state lasts for one year or more, and it is considered unlikely that she will ever emerge from it, it is considered a “persistent vegetative state”.
3. Minimally conscious state. The individual has some level of awareness, and shows very minimal signs of being aware of herself and her surroundings.

The prognosis of brain injury varies from child to child, and doctors will use a variety of tests, the Glasgow Coma Scale, and time to determine how severe brain injury may affect your child’s future. Because it’s so important that children with severe brain injury get timely and knowledgeable treatments and therapies, it’s important that the doctors and staff who are treating your child—both in the acute phase and subacute phase—have lots of experience treating children with similar injuries. The appropriate treatments and therapies will have a significant impact on your child’s long-term recovery.