How Do Intensity and Duration of Rehabilitation Services Affect Outcomes From Severe Traumatic Brain Injury? A Natural Experiment Comparing Health Care Delivery Systems in 2 Developed Nations.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of inpatient and outpatient treatment intensity on functional and emotional well-being outcomes at 1 year after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Prospective, quasiexperimental study comparing outcomes in a U.S. TBI treatment center with those in a Denmark (DK) center providing significantly greater intensity and duration of rehabilitation. SETTING: Inpatient and outpatient TBI rehabilitation. PARTICIPANTS: Persons with severe TBI (N=274). INTERVENTIONS: Inpatient rehabilitation interventions were counted daily by discipline. Outpatient treatments were estimated per discipline using a structured interview administered to patients, caregivers, or both, at 12 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: FIM, Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended, Disability Rating Scale, Participation Assessment with Recombined Tools-Objective, Perceived Quality of Life, Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey, Brief Symptom Inventory-18-item version. RESULTS: Despite identical inclusion criteria, patient severity on admission was greater at the DK site. After adjustment for patient/injury characteristics, there were no site differences in either functional or emotional outcome at 12 months. Significantly more inpatient plus outpatient treatment was administered to DK patients than to those in the U.S. For functional but not emotional treatments, more severely impaired patients received higher doses. One-year outcomes were predicted by admission severity, age, employment, and other baseline characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to expectation, DK patients who received significantly more rehabilitation services during the year after severe TBI did not differ in outcome from their less intensively treated U.S. counterparts, after adjusting for initial severity. The negative association of functional treatment dose with extent of early disability suggests that dose was driven by unmeasured factors reflecting need for services. Improved measures of injury-related factors driving treatment allocation are needed to model the independent effects of treatment on outcomes.

Medical complications during inpatient rehabilitation among patients with traumatic disorders of consciousness.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence of medical complications in patients with recent traumatic disorders of consciousness (DOCs). DESIGN: Data on adverse events in a placebo controlled trial of amantadine hydrochloride revealed no group difference, which allowed these events to be reanalyzed descriptively as medical complications experienced by the 2 groups collectively. SETTING: Eleven clinical facilities in the United States, Denmark, and Germany with specialty rehabilitation programs for patients with DOCs. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N=184) with nonpenetrating traumatic brain injury enrolled from acute inpatient rehabilitation programs between 4 and 16 weeks postinjury. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive 200 to 400mg of amantadine hydrochloride or placebo daily for 4 weeks, and followed for an additional 2 weeks. Adverse events were recorded and categorized with respect to their nature, timing, and severity. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Number, type, and severity of medical complications occurring during the 6-week study interval. RESULTS: A total of 468 medical complications were documented among the patients (.40 events per week per patient). More than 80% of patients experienced at least 1 medical complication, and 41 of these were defined as serious adverse events. New medical complications declined over time in rehabilitation and were not dependent on time since injury. Hypertonia, agitation/aggression, urinary tract infection, and sleep disturbance were the most commonly reported problems. Hydrocephalus, pneumonia, gastrointestinal problems, and paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity were the most likely to be severe. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with DOCs have a high rate of medical complications early after injury. Many of these complications require brain injury expertise for optimal management. Active medical management appears to contribute to the reduction in new complications. An optimal system of care for DOC patients must provide expert medical management in the early weeks after injury.

Patients with severe acquired brain injury show increased arousal in tilt-table training.

INTRODUCTION: Patients with severe acquired brain injury (ABI) are often mobilised using a tilt-table. Complications such as orthostatic intolerance have been reported. The primary objective of this study was to investigate if using a tilt-table was feasible for mobilising patients with severe ABI admitted for sub-acute rehabilitation. We also investigated change in arousal, treatment duration before termination due to orthostatic reactions and change in muscle tone. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 16 patients with severe ABI were included. The patients were tilted head-up, and blood pressure, heart rate, breathing frequency and eye opening were recorded before and during the intervention. Furthermore, muscle tone was recorded before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Fifteen of the 16 patients did not complete the 20-min. session of tilt training due to orthostatic intolerance. There was a significant increase in the proportion of time that the patients had open eyes during treatment as compared with before treatment (p < 0.01). The mean time to occurrence of symptoms at the first, second and third tilt was 244 (standard deviation (SD) = ± 234) sec., 277 (SD = ± 257) sec. and 155 (SD = ± 67) sec., respectively. CONCLUSION: Patients with severe sub-acute ABI show orthostatic intolerance when mobilised on a tilt-table which results in a low mobilisation intensity. However, the patients showed a significant increase in arousal during mobilisation. FUNDING: No external funding was received for this study. All resources were provided by the Department of Neurorehabilitation, Traumatic Brain Injury Unit, Glostrup University Hospital. TRIAL REGISTRATION: not relevant.