What are Coup and Contrecoup Brain Injuries?

Coup and contrecoup injuries are a specific kind of head injury (also called brain injuries, traumatic brain injury, traumatic brain injuries, TBI, etc.).

A coup contrecoup brain injury affects the human brain tissue and causes brain swelling in the direct area of the brain affected as well as the opposite side of the brain.

If a coup injury occurs, or if a contrecoup injury occurs, the initial impact and subsequent head trauma can result in a closed head injury, brain contusion, mild concussion, axonal injury, diffuse axonal injury, intracerebral hemorrhage, coop injury, blood vessels brain damage, memory loss, blunt force trauma, skull injuries, shaken baby syndrome, and others. Therefore, it is important to understand how they occur and the damage they can do.

Our law firm, the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC, works with victims suffering head injuries like coup contrecoup injuries including those after a car accident. Read the following sections on this site and contact us for a free consultation about your legal rights for compensation.

What Exactly is a Coup or Contrecoup Traumatic Brain Injury?

The type of traumatic brain injury or brain injuries present with a coup injury or contrecoup injury is important to understand especially right after a blunt force trauma incident so that you do not miss it.

While contrecoup injuries and coup injuries might seem similar, they are actually incredibly important so be sure to discern the difference.

  • What is a coup injury? A coup injury occurs (pronounced coo, a French term with common misspellings) when a moving object, stationary object, or other outside force strikes the head (or skull) and the head receives a brain wound on the opposite side of the skull of the actual impact site. A coup brain injury might present itself in many symptoms including scars, swelling, bruising, skull trauma, or other usual or unusual form. Brain damage for an injured patient can range from mild to severe with a direct impact coo injury and require substantial treatment (including a CT scan, magnetic resonance imaging and daily living assistance). They are common after car accidents.
  • What are contrecoup injuries? Contrecoup injuries occur when a traumatic brain injury arises opposite from where the stationary head (or moving head), brain, or skull was impacted. Contrecoup brain injury has significant symptoms including harm to other body parts. The injured patient should ask their doctor to review their entire head and brain for coup contrecoup injuries because these are often overlooked because they arise on the opposite side of the impact area. Contrecoup brain injuries also are frequent after a car accident.

Both coup and contrecoup injuries present serious traumatic injury health risks for any patient. Talk to your doctor about the symptoms of coup contrecoup injuries and what the consequence of a brain injury like a coup contrecoup injury will mean for you.

How are Traumatic Brain Injuries Like a Coup or Contrecoup Injury Caused?

Like any other brain injury, a coup or contrecoup injury can happen in many different ways. The head, skull, and brain are subject to a myriad of risks anytime you leave the house, drive down the road, bike around town, go to work, go to school, or engage in virtually any activity in daily life.

One of the most frequent causes of brain injury in the United States is still automobile accidents. This includes a contrecoup brain injury and coup contrecoup brain injury.

Normally, distraction, texting, speeding, fatigue, and alcohol are to blame here but many other causes of motor vehicle crashes pop up including poor weather and road conditions. In an auto accident, many things fly at a passenger as the car goes in one direction or the opposite way like glass, other vehicles, and dislodged items. These can all cause trauma and injury like coup contrecoup brain injury.

Here are some other reasons why people suffer head trauma such as coup injury or contrecoup injury:

  • Falls
  • Sports accidents
  • Violence including gunshot wound
  • Explosions
  • Combat

Talk to our committed and experienced attorneys about your coup contrecoup injury, conracoo brain injury, lens dislocation, brain intracerebral hemorrhage, and related symptoms and problems.

Damage Caused by a Coup or Contrecoup Injury

The brain is a soft organ protected by the skull and neighboring muscles. Yet, violent movements, traumatic collisions, and other impact events can render it vulnerable. These can cause the brain to crash into the skull and then rock back and hit it again on the rebound.

If the pressure is great enough, a person can suffer a concussion. A concussion is medically designated as a head wound event that does not endanger a person’s life but substantially harms one’s health and quality of life. They can result in degraded vision, lost balance, disorientation, unconsciousness, and other effects.

The frontal and temporal lobe are also vulnerable to assault in a coup contrecoup injury. These areas of the brain affect speech, language, and decisions but can also impair concentration, coordination, and memory.

Of course, the damage done may extend beyond a person’s health. Brain injuries severally alter a victim’s finances and for the worse.

They are faced with long-term and substantial medical care that is expensive. Also, their professional prospects will be critically reduced as their lifelong earnings drastically fall due to their incapacity.

Finally, coup contrecoup injuries damage your life in a non-economic way. Your quality of life may take a hit as you experience pain and suffering, disability, and other intangible harms and losses.

Treating Coup Contrecoup Injuries

The treatment of any traumatic brain injury is immediate and critical because once their effects set it little can be done.

Therefore, doctors employ a set of medical treatments to stave off irreversible damage including surgery, medication, rest, and rehabilitation. This is meant to stop swelling and general brain damage.

If you hurt your head in an accident, you should see a physician at once. They can properly diagnose your condition and offer medical attention and advice tailored to your personal health circumstances and rehabilitation. Review this site for more detail. Contact us for a free legal consultation.

Sample Brain Damage Cases and Awards

$2,900,000 Illinois Settlement:

A couple in their late sixties were driving west through Antioch on Route 173 when truck driver in his pickup truck rear-ended them. The pair’s injuries were not minor. The woman fractured her vertebrae (more than $48,000 in medical expenses).

The man suffered a traumatic brain injury, subdural hematoma, and cervical bone fracture at the C4 and C5 spot. Doctors performed surgery on his brain and spine (more than $700,000 in medical expenses).

The couple brought an action against the trucker’s company and leasing company but the matter was not decided by a court. They settled for $2.9 million-$2.75 million was for the man and $150,000 was for the woman.

$2,000,000 Illinois Settlement:

A woman in her middle sixties was broadsided in her passenger vehicle by a FedEx large truck. The trucker was leaving a parking lot when he ran into her. She sustained a traumatic brain injury and cervical myelopathy.

The latter required fusion and anterior discectomy (four-level). Her medical expenses were close to $500,000 and she still experiencing ongoing PTSD.

The woman brought this claim against FedEx and a delivery company for her expenses, pain, suffering, and other economic and non-economic damages. The parties settled for a reported $2 million.

$80,771 Illinois Award:

Here, a young woman was stopped at a right light, waiting for the light to turn, when another vehicle came screeching behind her. In fact, it was a large truck and it could not stop in time to avoid a collision. It rear-ended her sending her car into the middle of the intersection and wounding her in the process.

She suffered a concussion as well as a neck and brain strain. She sued the truck driver and the driver’s employer arguing that the latter was vicariously responsible under the theory of respondeat superior. However, her claim against the company went nowhere because the truck driver was not even working that day. He was just driving around for personal reasons.

She was successful against him personally though. The truck driver did not even contest liability. He only denied the amount of damages that she asked for in her complaint. A jury found that an appropriate amount for the crash and her injuries was $80,771.

Lawyers Fighting for Victims with Coup and Contrecoup Injuries

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can help you and your family after a major brain injury like a blunt force trauma brain and coup contrecoup brain injury. Contrecoup injuries can change your life forever and impose steep financial costs and changes to your quality of life.

You are not alone. We can come to your aid and fight for your legal rights. Our team works on contingency so you do not have to worry about upfront costs.

We don’t take a dime unless we win for you. Call us today to see what relief is possible and obtainable.

Review this site for more additional information related to corpus callosum, neuro ophthalmology, glasgow coma scale, and brain damage cases.