Recovery after moderate to severe TBI and factors influencing functional outcome: What you need to know

Abstract

ABSTRACT Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a major cause of death and disability, significantly impacting the lives of 2.5 million people annually in the United States. Long-term natural history studies have clarified that functional recovery continues for up to a decade, even among those who sustain severe TBI. Despite these findings, nihilistic attitudes regarding prognosis persist among clinicians, highlighting the need for improved understanding of the natural history of recovery from TBI and the factors that influence outcome. Recent advances in neuroimaging technologies and blood-based biomarkers are shedding new light on injury detection, severity classification and the physiologic mechanisms underlying recovery and decline postinjury. Rehabilitation is an essential component of clinical management after moderate to severe TBI and can favorably influence mortality and functional outcome. However, systemic barriers, including healthcare policy, insurance coverage and social determinants of health often limit access to inpatient rehabilitation services. Posttraumatic amnesia and confusion contribute to morbidity after TBI; however, early initiation and sustained provision of rehabilitation interventions optimize long-term outcome. Evidence-based reviews have clearly shown that cognitive rehabilitation strategies can effectively restore or compensate for the cognitive sequelae of TBI when used according to existing practice guidelines. Neurostimulant agents are commonly employed off-label to enhance functional recovery, however, only amantadine hydrochloride has convincingly demonstrated effectiveness when used under tested parameters. Noninvasive brain stimulation procedures, including transcranial direct current stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation, have emerged as promising treatments in view of their ability to modulate aberrant neuronal activity and augment adaptive neuroplasticity, but assessment of safety and effectiveness during the acute period has been limited. Understanding the natural history of recovery from TBI and the effectiveness of available therapeutic interventions is essential to ensuring appropriate clinical management of this complex population.