Acute Traumatic Brain Injury Victims May Have a Greater Level of Consciousness Than

Acute Traumatic Brain Injury Victims May Have a Greater Level of Consciousness Than Once Thought

Brooks Schuelke

The New England Journal of Medicine has just released a new study that indicates that about 15 percent of TBI patients are responding to verbal commands “in their brains” even though there are no external signs that they are doing so.

The study recorded brain responses in acute TBI patients with a specialized computer analysis program applied to EEG recordings. According to researchers, patients that do show activity are “four times more likely to achieve partial independence over the next year with rehabilitation, compared to patients with no activity.” The research took into consideration EEG results from 104 patients in a neurological unit at Columbia University’s neurological ICU. The patients had head trauma resulting from intracranial bleeding, trauma and/or heart attacks.

The research opens new doors to treatment possibilities that were once considered nearly impossible. Not only does it give hope for better medical diagnostics and treatment options, but it also holds the potential to change how TBI injury accidents are treated when a family files a lawsuit. The findings could also change the value of the compensation awarded by a judge, jury or during a settlement for treatment to help a patient recover from a comatose or seemingly vegetative state.