An Analysis of Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is very common in younger people with males aged 15-35 the most severely affected. TBI can cause life long impairments both in physical but also in cognitive abilities. The focus of retraining is on ADLs, pain mangement and non physical therapies.
TBI is caused by an external force to the brain which causes at least temporary but more often permanent neurological dysfunction. TBI occurs about ten times more than Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).
The results of TBI are disruption of the patient’s and family’s life, loss of income, considerable expense, physical disability, behavioral changes, personal relationship disruption, coping with school work and much more.
TBI can be as little as a concussion all the way to getting into a vegetative state.
Vehicular accidents are the most common cause with alcohol consumption accounting for half of all incidents.
Because each person is different in many ways the goals of rehabilitation need to be individualized to the patient and his family.
Continuity of care is necessary even if there is much improvment. The care is not only medical but also familial or instuitutional.
If Post Traumatic Amnesia (PTA) occurs for less than two weeks the goal may be full recovery but if it lingers for 4-6 weeks there may be more permanent symptoms.
In general the goal of rehabilitation is to return the patient to the previous level of functioning. It consists of a) inpatient care or b) community involvement (family, community services).
70-85% suffer mild TBI and it’s rare that they would need inpatient care. 10-15% have lingering symptoms such as headache, changes in taste and hearing, attention, memory loss, insomnia and more.
Those with moderate to severe TBI have more unpredictable outcomes although some recover sufficiently to return to work and are capable of self care and normal activity. Depending on available support TBI patients will rehabilitate faster or slower.
Then there is the social disability aspect of TBI. It can affect the competency for handling financial matters and sometimes a guardianship may have to be set up. When a TBI patient returns to work he may need retraining. There may be aggression, lack of empathy, substance misuse or abuse. Social behavior may have changed. Behavioral management may be necessary. A medication regimen and managment may become necessary.
Children usually have better outcomes than adults however certain symptoms may not appear till a later stage of the child’s development.
If one of the symptoms of TBI is loss of mobility in one or more limbs the preferred rehabilitation tool may be the TUTOR system.
The TUTOR system has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The newly developed TUTORs consist of ergonomic wearable devices. The HANDTUTOR is a glove for hand therapy and the ARMTUTOR is an arm brace for elbow and shoulder rehabilitation. The LEGTUTOR is a leg brace for leg and hip. The system is indicated for patients who have suffered TBI, a stroke, SCI, CP, MS, Parkinson’s disease and other mobility restraining illnesses. It is used by occupational therapists and physiotherapists in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The accompanying software system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. The dedicated rehabilitation software allows the physical and occupational therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition, the OT and PT can make objective follow up and reports on their patient’s progress. Rehabilitation aims to optimize the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The TUTORS are certified by the FDA and CE. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.