If your loved one is rushed to the hospital, you must place their life in someone else’s hands, constantly trusting that others will make the right choices for your family member. But if the staff are not paying close attention during surgery, your loved one may suffer an additional injury that can affect their life forever.
Hypoxic-anoxic injury (HAI) is a serious and potentially debilitating injury caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen. Also called cerebral hypoxia, HAI can affect brain function in as little as a few minutes—and the longer the brain loses oxygen, the more widespread the damage will be.
An anoxic brain injury in Kentucky can result in serious impairment in brain function, including:
- Visual coordination issues. HAI may cause a disconnect between what the eyes see and what the brain understands, leading the victim to mistrust visual cues. Patients may be unable to focus clearly on objects, or suffer falls due to reaching for a railing that was further away than perceived.
- Cortical blindness. In rare cases, HAI may interfere with the connection that sends information from the eyes to the brain. The eyes function normally, but the brain is unable to process visual information, resulting in blindness.
- Short-term memory loss. The hippocampus is the area of the brain where new information is stored, and it is extremely sensitive to lack of oxygen. As a result, most people with HAI will experience short-term memory loss, and may be able to remember things that happened a week ago, but not in the past few hours.
- Decrease in functional ability. Victims who have experienced HAI often exhibit poor judgment, have difficulty making decisions, and become more impulsive. Reasoning skills, concentration, and multi-tasking ability may also be affected.
- Aphasia. Patients may have trouble recalling or understanding commonly used words. If the victim is suffering anomic aphasia (or anomia), he may not remember what words mean, or use words outside the proper context.
If a medical provider was responsible for your loved one’s hypoxia, the attorneys at Gray and White can help you pursue a Louisville brain injury lawsuit to get the compensation you need for treatment. Call us today at (800) 634-8767 or fill out the contact form on the top of this page to start your FREE case evaluation.