Neuropsychological rehabilitation of mild traumatic brain injury

A significant minority of patients who have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) may exhibit persistent disability. There have been few attempts to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of neurorehabilitation for these patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis of the results of a neuropsychological rehabilitation programme for 20 patients with MTBI. Based upon the ability to resume productive functioning after treatment, 10 patients were determined to exhibit a good outcome and 10 patients were considered to exhibit a poor outcome. Patients with good outcome exhibited significant pre-post-treatment improvements on both neuropsychological measures of cognitive functioning and self-reported post-concussive symptoms. Patients with poor outcome demonstrated little improvement in either area, and in some cases showed a decline in functioning. The results are consistent with the view that there may be significant variability in recovery and response to treatment after MTBI. There is a continued need to identify which patients may benefit from neurorehabilitation, develop specially tailored interventions, and conduct controlled, prospective studies in this area.