Acquired brain injury

MeythalerJM, Guin-Renfroe S, Johnson A Brunner RM. Prospective assessment of tizanidine for spasticity due to acquired brain injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2001 82 1155-1163. 

Systematic reviews In a systematic review tizanidine was found to be very usefiil in patients with spasticity caused by multiple sclerosis, acquired brain injury, or spinal cord injury [ Q ]. It can also be helpful in patients with chronic neck and/or lower back pain who have a myofascial component to their pain. Doses should be gradually titrated upwards. 

Case series Severe vomiting was reported following domperidone administration in 10 paediatric patients witix severe acquired brain injury. These patients shared spastic tetraparesis, minimal consciousness and the inability to take solids or liquids orally. They were receiving treatment with baclofen, diazepam, valproate, omeprazole and antibiotics when needed. To facilitate gastric emptying, therapeutic doses of domperidone were administered 15-20 min... 

Verplancke D, Snape S, Salisbury CF, et al. A randomized controlled trial of botulinum toxin on lower limb spasticity following acute acquired severe brain injury. Clin Rehabil. 2005 19 117-125. 

Some degree of spellbinding is characteristic of any compromise of frontal lobe function. Beer et al. (2006) noted that orbitofrontal damage is associated with objective inappropriate social behavior. The patients were aware of social norms of intimacy but they were unaware that their task performances violated these norms. The authors call this an impairment of self-monitoring and self-insight. Bach and David (2006) pointed out that self-awareness deficits are very common in patients with traumatic brain injury and key to the development of behavior disturbances Our research found that lack of social self-awareness predicts behavioural disturbance in acquired and traumatic brain injury independent of cognitive and executive function. ... 

Bach, L., c David, A. (2006). Self-awareness after acquired and traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 16, 397-414. 

The inability to express oneself through either speech or writing is perhaps the most limiting of physical disabilities. Meaningful participation in life requires the communication of information, desires, needs, feelings, and aspirations. The lack of full interpersonal communication results from a variety of congenital and acquired disabilities, including but not limited to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aphasia, autism, brain injury, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson s disease. Also, the use of natural speech to communicate maybe interrupted due to hospitalization. The complex communication disorders associated with these conditions substantially reduce an individual s quality of life and potential for education, employment, and independence. 

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