Comparison of awakening effects of enriched environmental quantitative stimulation and conventional rehabilitation on patients with consciousness disorder after traumatic brain injury / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To compare the awakening effects of enriched environmental quantitative stimulation and conventional rehabilitation on patients with consciousness disorder after traumatic brain injury (TBI).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 60 patients with consciousness disorder after TBI admitted to Hospital of Zhejiang Provincial Armed Police Corps from October 2021 to October 2022, including 38 males and 22 females, aged 26-72 years [(41.6±13.2)years]. The injury was located at the frontal and temporal lobe in 37 patients, at the brain stem in 9, and at the thalamus in 14. The types of injury included cerebral contusion and laceration in 36 patients and intracerebral hematomas in 24 patients. The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission was 5-8 points in 11 patients, 9-12 in 34, and 13-15 in 15. Disease course was (19.2±5.4)days. A total of 30 patients received conventional rehabilitation treatment (conventional rehabilitation group) and 30 patients received enriched environmental quantitative stimulation on the basis of conventional rehabilitation treatment, which lasted 4 cycles in 28 days (quantitative stimulation group). The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) score, Activities of Daily Living (ADL) score, and brainwave α/&delta; ratio (ADR) before treatment and at the second and fourth treatment cycles were compared between the two groups. The incidence of complications at the end of the fourth treatment cycle and the rate of favorable outcome of Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at the last follow-up were compared between the two groups.Results:All the patients were followed up for 6-12 months [(8.3±2.5)months]. There were no significant differences in CRS-R score, ADL score, or brainwave ADR between the two groups before treatment ( P>0.05). At the second treatment cycle, they were (13.03±0.73)points, (14.83±0.95)points and 0.35±0.11 respectively in the quantitative stimulation group, which were all higher than those in the conventional rehabilitation group [(11.18±0.14)points, (8.74±0.43)points and 0.29±0.09 respectively] ( P<0.05). At the fourth treatment cycle, they were (17.83±0.23)points, (52.93±10.75)points and 0.44±0.11 respectively in the quantitative stimulation group, which were all higher than those in the conventional rehabilitation group [(13.67±0.35)points, (40.56±7.15)points and 0.37±0.07 respectively] ( P<0.05). The CRS-R score, ADL score, and brainwave ADR at the second treatment cycle were significantly higher than those before treatment, and they were even higher at the fourth treatment cycle than those at the second treatment cycle ( P<0.05). At the end of the fourth treatment cycle, the incidence of complications in the quantitative stimulation group was 13.3% (4/30), which was lower than that of the conventional rehabilitation group [36.7% (11/30)] ( P<0.05). At the last follow-up, the favorable outcome rate of GOS was 80.0% (24/30) in the quantitative stimulation group, which was superior to 66.7% (20/30) in the conventional rehabilitation group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Compared with the conventional rehabilitation treatment, enriched environmental quantitative stimulation for patients with consciousness disorder after TBI achieves enhanced consciousness level, activity of daily life and electroencephal reactivity, together with decreased incidence of complications and improved prognosis.