Medication usage patterns for headache treatment after mild traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To describe patient self-report of headache treatment in the first year following mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). BACKGROUND: An understanding of appropriate management of symptoms after mild TBI is crucial for improving acute care and long-term outcomes. This is particularly true for post-traumatic headaches as recent studies suggest that headaches after mild TBI are common with multiple phenotypes. In addition, symptoms such as headache after mild TBI are often managed by primary care providers without specialty training, and often in medically underserved areas. Outside of previous opinion papers, few studies have guided the treatment or examined the effectiveness of the interventions for post-traumatic headache. METHODS: One hundred sixty-seven participants admitted to a level 1 trauma hospital with mild TBI who were prospectively enrolled and reported new or worse headache at 3, 6, or 12 months after injury. RESULTS: Participants were primarily male (75%), white (75%), injured in vehicle crashes (62%), and had completed high school (83%). The majority of headaches met International Classification of Headache Disorders-2nd edition criteria for migraine/probable migraine, followed by tension-type headache. Despite the diverse nature of headaches, more than 70% of those with headache at each time period used acetaminophen or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for headache control. Only 8% of those with the migraine/probable migraine phenotype used triptans. Of those individuals who used medication, 26% of those with migraine/probable migraine phenotype and 70% of those with tension headache phenotype endorsed complete relief (vs partial or no relief) because of medication use. The majority of individuals with tension headache reported never taking medication. CONCLUSIONS: Headaches after mild TBI are frequent and are not optimally treated. Results suggest that many individuals with mild TBI may be self-treating their headaches by utilizing over-the-counter pain relief medications. These medications, however, are only providing effective treatment for a minority of this population. Further research must be conducted to develop evidence-guided treatment and educate providers.

Spasticity Management in Persons with Disorders of Consciousness.

INTRODUCTION: Spasticity is one of the most frequent neurological impairments affecting persons with disorders of consciousness (DoC). If left untreated, it can mask signs of consciousness by inhibiting one's ability to interact with the environment. The lack of information about spasticity specific to patients with DoC may result in insufficient or even inappropriate treatment. OBJECTIVE: To report spasticity characteristics and management in a large dedicated DoC rehabilitation program. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: An inpatient rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients admitted to the DoC rehabilitation program from 1 January 2014 to 31 October 2018. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Spasticity characteristics; impact of interventions on spasticity as well as other clinical measures. RESULTS: A total of 146 patients were included, of whom 95.2% were affected by spasticity; 52.7% had spasticity affecting all four limbs. The most commonly affected muscle groups were shoulder internal rotators (72.6%) in the upper extremity and ankle plantar flexors (59.8%) in the lower extremity. The more commonly affected muscle groups were also more spastic (R = 0.993 and 0.989 in the upper and lower extremity, respectively; P < .01). Atypical posture patterns were also commonly observed, making positioning difficult. Chemoneurolytic injections (botulinum toxin and/or phenol) were performed in over 69.9% patients, and 26.7% had intrathecal baclofen (ITB) pump placement. All patients received individualized physical modalities and therapies. With focal managements, systemic spasmolytic medications, including enteral baclofen, were reduced by at least 50.0%, which appeared to be associated with improvements in the level of consciousness. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all DoC patients were affected by spasticity, often to a moderate or severe degree. Extensive use of focal spasticity interventions allowed for weaning of systemic spasmolytic medications, which seemed to result in improvements in the level of consciousness.

Many Faces of the Hidden Souls: Medical and Neurological Complications and Comorbidities in Disorders of Consciousness.

Early and goal-directed management of complications and comorbidities is imperative to facilitate neurorecovery and to optimize outcomes of disorders of consciousness (DoC). This is the first large retrospective cohort study on the primary medical and neurological complications and comorbidities in persons with DoC. A total of 146 patients admitted to a specialized inpatient DoC rehabilitation program from 1 January 2014 to 31 October 2018 were included. The incidences of those conditions since their initial brain injuries were reviewed per documentation. They were categorized into reversible causes of DoC, confounders and mimics, and other medical/neurological conditions. The common complications and comorbidities included pneumonia (73.3%), pain (75.3%), pressure ulcers (70.5%), oral and limb apraxia (67.1%), urinary tract infection (69.2%), and 4-limb spasticity (52.7%). Reversible causes of DoC occurred very commonly. Conditions that may confound the diagnosis of DoC occurred at surprisingly high rates. Conditions that may be a source of pain occurred not infrequently. Among those that may diminish or confound the level of consciousness, 4.8 ± 2.0 conditions were identified per patient. In conclusion, high rates of various complications and comorbidities occurred in persons with DoC. Correcting reversible causes, identifying confounders and mimics, and managing general consequences need to be seriously considered in clinical practice.

Phenol Neurolysis for the Management of Shoulder Spasticity in Early Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Report.

This case describes a 16-year-old boy who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. The patient gradually recovered but developed debilitating spasticity mainly in left triceps muscle, abnormal positioning of shoulder girdle complex, and shoulder pain. Phenol (6%) was injected to axillary and radial nerves under the guidance of electrical stimulation and ultrasound imaging at 10 weeks after the initial injury. After injection, triceps spasticity and shoulder pain were immediately reduced, and abnormal positions of shoulder girdle complex and elbow joint gradually returned to functional limits over 2 weeks. This case suggests that phenol neurolysis for spasticity management in early recovery could yield functional recovery.Level of Evidence: V.

Possible Contributions of Ipsilateral Pathways From the Contralesional Motor Cortex to the Voluntary Contraction of the Spastic Elbow Flexors in Stroke Survivors: A TMS Study.

OBJECTIVE: The contribution of the contralesional motor cortex to the impaired limbs is still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of descending projections from the contralesional hemisphere during voluntary elbow flexion on the paretic side. DESIGN: Eleven healthy and 10 stroke subjects performed unilateral isometric elbow flexion tasks at various submaximal levels. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was delivered to the hotspot of biceps muscles ipsilateral to the target side (paretic side in stroke subjects or right side in controls) at rest and during elbow flexion tasks. Motor-evoked potential amplitudes of the contralateral resting biceps muscles, transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced ipsilateral force increment, and reflex torque and weakness of spastic elbow flexors were quantified. RESULTS: The normalized motor-evoked potential amplitude increased with force level in both healthy and stroke subjects. However, stroke subjects exhibited significantly higher force increment compared with healthy subjects only at low level of elbow flexion but similar at moderate to high levels. The greater force increment significantly correlated with reflex torque of the spastic elbow flexors, but not weakness. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide novel evidence that ipsilateral projections are not likely to contribute to strength but are correlated to spasticity of spastic-paretic elbow flexors after stroke.

Assessment of sleep after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

BACKGROUND: Individuals who have sustained a TBI often present with complaints of disturbed sleep. Identifying sleep disorders in the TBI population has not been standardized. Much of the confusion may come from the heterogeneity of the research that has been conducted on sleep problems after traumatic brain injury. This review focused attention to current research findings in order to develop an evidenced-based approach to assessment of sleep disturbances within this unique population. OBJECTIVES: To review various methods used in the assessment of disorders of sleep after TBI and offer recommendations for best approaches for clinical assessment of sleep. METHODS: The authors describe various methods such as history, questionnaires, physical examination and objective sleep measurement, their usefulness and limitations based on the available evidence and experience for assessment of sleep in individuals who have sustained a TBI. RESULTS: An evidence-driven method for the assessment of sleep disorders following TBI is discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Through skilled assessment, clinicians can assess sleep following TBI and the most applicable interventions can be chosen with the hopes of reducing additional symptom burden and optimizing functioning.

Interlimb interactions during bilateral voluntary elbow flexion tasks in chronic hemiparetic stroke.

The purpose was to systematically investigate interlimb interactions in chronic hemiparetic stroke. Fourteen poststroke hemiparetic subjects (>1 year) performed maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) elbow flexion tasks without visual feedback with one (unilateral) and two limbs simultaneously (bilateral). At submaximal levels, subjects produced force to a visual target reflecting 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of corresponding MVC in unilateral tasks, and of summated unilateral MVCs in bilateral tasks. Elbow flexion force and biceps surface electromyogram (EMG) were measured bilaterally. Proportionally increased EMG activity on the contralateral limb (motor overflow) was observed during unilateral tasks of the nonimpaired limb but not of the impaired limb. During bilateral tasks at submaximal levels, the impaired limb produced less force (i.e., force deficit [FD]) as compared to expected forces based upon its unilateral MVC. Force deficit on the impaired limb was compensated by greater force production on the nonimpaired limb such that the visual target was reached. However, force contribution to the total force progressively decreased from the nonimpaired side, when the level of submaximal contractions increased. During bilateral MVC tasks, there was no FD on the impaired limb, but FD was observed on the nonimpaired limb. A net result of a small bilateral deficit in force with parallel changes in EMG was observed. These novel findings of activation level-dependent interactions and asymmetrical contralateral motor overflow provide new insights that, among other compensatory mechanisms, ipsilateral corticospinal projections from the nonlesioned hemisphere play an important role in interlimb interactions in chronic stroke, in addition to unbalanced interhemispheric inhibition.