Traumatic Brain Injury - Treatment and Rehabilitation |
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Traumatic Brain Injury: Treatment and RehabilitationRehabilitation from traumatic brain injury seeks to help patients regain the ability to live on their own with as little help as possible. Treatment focuses on a number of areas; while the specifics depend on the injury, it generally concentrates on the healing abilities of the body, and on re-teaching the body how to learn. The latter also includes teaching the body how to deal with permanent changes that result from the brain injury in question. Treatment focuses on the following specific areas:
There are
three stages of rehabilitation: acute, sub-acute, and chronic: Acute Rehabilitation Acute rehabilitation can be defined as the period of treatment between the time of injury and stabilization. The first step in acute rehabilitation often consists of life saving measures administered immediately following a traumatic brain injury. This treatment varies depending on the injury, but can include unblocking the airway, maintaining blood circulation and body fluid levels, and the preventing infections and other post-injury problems. TBI can also cause edema (swelling of the brain). Edema can cause intracranial pressure (ICP) to increase, which is extremely dangerous. If a TBI patient experiences edema, a number of measures may be taken during the acute rehabilitation to counter its effects. Another symptom that may cause increased intracranial pressure is the buildup of fluid in the brain. An ICP monitor may be inserted to monitor the pressure. When ICP becomes a problem, medications may be prescribed, and in some cases surgery will be required. Sub-acute rehabilitation Once a
patient stabilizes from a traumatic brain injury, he or she may be admitted
to a facility designed to treat TBI, where a sub-acute rehabilitation
program will be tailored their specific needs. Patients entering a sub-acute
program are generally still experiencing some level of post-traumatic
amnesia (PTA). The sub-acute rehabilitation program lasts from the time
a patient is deemed medically stable to the point at which he or she
is ready to: Chronic Rehabilitation For some victims of traumatic brain injury, treatment will be necessary for the duration of their life. Ongoing treatment following the acute and sub-acute stages is referred to as chronic rehabilitation. Chronic rehabilitation can come in the form of individual care or in the form of a program created by a number of specialists, similar to the programs designed for acute and sub-acute treatment. In the past, most rehabilitation was based in a medical facility. But in recent years, the popularity of community-based programs has been on the rise. Forms of community-based rehabilitation:
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