Symposium

Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)

Brain Injury

Stroke

Disorders of Consciousness after Severe Brain Injury: Updates from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM

Presenter(s)

Yelena G. Bodien, PhD

Research Scientist
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Slides
Robert G. Kowalski, MD, MS

Research Instructor - Neurosurgery, Neurology
University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States
Joseph T. Giacino, PhD

Professor
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Acton, Massachusetts, United States
SS

Samuel Snider

Neurocritical care physician
Harvard Medical School, United States
Risa Nakase-Richardson, Ph.D.

Professor
University of South Florida and James A. Haley Veterans Hospital
Lutz, Florida, United States

Slides

Early work leveraging the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database (TBIMS NDB) revealed better than expected outcomes for patients with severe brain injury resulting in persistent disorders of consciousness (DoC). We provide a brief history of the findings as well as limitations associated with using the TBIMS NDB to study DoC. We then present results from three recent TBIMS NDB investigations that address recovery from DoC, optimizing outcome assessment for persons with DoC and differences and similarities between the DoC cohorts enrolled in the VA and NIDILRR TBIMS databases. Finally, we discuss approaches to leveraging the TBIMS and VA databases in innovative ways to advance our understanding of DoC.

Learning Objectives:

Identify the advantages and limitations of using the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database for disorders of consciousness
Discuss three findings about recovery from disorders of consciousness that emerged from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems
Describe differences and similarities between the VA and NIDILRR disorders of consciousness cohorts.