Early motor predictors of recovery in patients with severe traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Head turning, together with or immediately followed by visual pursuit and fixation, proved to be clinically significant variables associated with recovery from vegetative state to higher states of consciousness beyond minimally conscious state.

Detection of visual pursuit in patients in minimally conscious state: A matter of stimuli and visual plane?

“…Some recent data show that, in the course of emerging from VS/ UWS towards MCS, visual pursuit, along with or immediately preceded by head control and head turning, are associated with better outcome [41]. Because visual pursuit assessment relies on an examiner's observation of a patient's eye movements, which might not be obvious, the use of quantitative assessment systems, such as eye-tracking systems, should be useful.…”

A Spanish validation of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R)

“…In this study cohort, no patients rated 3 (a result denoting MCS with intelligible verbalization) and low agreement (28%) was observed on reflex movements for scores of 1 and 2. Frequently, patients with disorders of consciousness may present different oromandibular movements including suction, chewing, bruxism or generating guttural vocal sounds [14]. All these responses represent forms of reflex movement and may give rise to score discrepancies, as raters may assign them 1 or 2 points on the oromotor scale.…”

The impact of physical therapy in patients with severe traumatic brain injury during acute and post-acute rehabilitation according to coma duration

“…Tamashiro et al investigated head control and turning, visual fixation and pursuit, and trunk movement and control in patients with TBIs and reported that significantly better results were achieved by the patients who were in a coma for a shorter period 25 ) .…”