Diffuse Axonal Injury

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) is a form of traumatic brain injury. It happens when the brain rapidly shifts inside the skull as an injury is occurring. The long connecting fibers in the brain called axons are sheared as the brain rapidly accelerates and decelerates inside the hard bone of the skull.

DAI typically causes injury to many parts of the brain, and people who suffer a DAI are usually left in a coma. The changes in the brain are often very tiny and can be difficult to detect using CT or MRI scans.

Although one of the most common brain injuries, it is also one of the most debilitating.

Learn more:

• https://www.healthline.com/health/diffuse-axonal-injury#:~:text=Diffuse%20axonal%20injury%20(DAI)%20is,hard%20bone%20of%20the%20skull.

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448102/

• https://www.biausa.org/professionals/research/tbi-model-systems/an-overview-of-diffuse-axonal-injury