Abstract
Objectives
To investigate functional outcomes and state of consciousness at 1 year and ≥2 years
postinjury in children who sustained a traumatic brain injury and were in a disorder
of consciousness (DOC), either vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state
(MCS), upon admission to inpatient rehabilitation.
Design
Retrospective chart review.
Setting
Pediatric inpatient rehabilitation unit.
Participants
Children aged 2-18 years (N=37) who were admitted to inpatient rehabilitation with
admission scores <30 on the Cognitive and Linguistic Scale (CALS).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Glasgow Outcome Scale- Extended, Pediatric Revision (GOS-E Peds), and state of consciousness
based on previously established guidelines.
Results
At admission, 16 children were in VS (43.2%) and 21 (56.8%) were in MCS. Children
admitted in VS had a significantly longer time from injury to inpatient rehabilitation
admission, lower CALS admission scores, were more likely to be in a DOC ≥28 days,
and had greater disability at both follow-up time points. At the 1-year follow-up,
3 patients were in VS, 7 were in MCS, and 27 had emerged from MCS. By the time of
the most recent follow-up (≥2y), 2 more patients had emerged from MCS. Across the
cohort, GOS-E Peds scores at 1 year ranged from VS (GOS-E Peds, 7) to upper moderate
disability (GOS-E Peds, 3). Most patients were functioning in the lower severe disability
category (GOS-E Peds, 6) at 1 year (43.2%) and at the time of the most recent follow-up
(43.2%). Twenty-seven patients (73.0%) showed stable GOS-E Peds scores between the
2 time points, 6 (16.2%) improved, and 4 (10.8%) were deceased.
Conclusions
Although a majority of patients emerged from a DOC by 1 year postinjury, most continued
to demonstrate notable functional impairment at the 1-year follow-up that persisted
to the most recent follow-up. A small subset demonstrated important improvements between
1 year and the most recent follow-up (2 patients emerged, 6 patients showed improvement
in GOS-E Peds scores).
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CALS (Cognitive and Linguistic Scale), DOC (disorders of consciousness), eMCS (emerged from a minimally conscious state), GOS-E Peds (Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended, Pediatric Revision), MCS (minimally conscious state), TBI (traumatic brain injury), VS (vegetative state)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 17, 2021
Footnotes
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
