Brain Injury & Stroke Care

An acquired brain injury (ABI) is any brain injury that occurs after a person has been born that is not the result of a genetic condition. This term includes brain injuries caused by physical trauma, but also those caused by non-traumatic medical factors, such as meningitis, tumors, aneurysms, or strokes. Patients with brain injuries often require mechanical ventilation for breathing support.

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden trauma from an external blunt force causes damage to the brain. These injuries, which can include brain contusions, concussions, hematomas, blood clots, bleeding, and cerebral edema, can seriously impact the way the body functions, sometimes permanently. Even the long-term effects of mild traumatic brain injury can be very difficult to manage and may include dizziness, migraines, depression, and cognitive impairments. A person who has suffered a more severe traumatic brain injury may experience physical, intellectual, behavioral, emotional, and sensory challenges, as well as communication problems that make it difficult to speak, organize thoughts, and participate in conversations. In cases like these, rehabilitation often requires long-term treatment with an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, and therapists that specialize in brain trauma injury recovery.

Stroke is a particular kind of traumatic brain injury. A stroke occurs when the flow of blood and oxygen to an area of the brain is suddenly interrupted, usually because of a blood clot or broken blood vessel, resulting in the death of the affected brain tissue. Some of the most challenging stroke outcomes include weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, problems with thinking, awareness, attention, learning, judgment, or memory, difficulty controlling or expressing emotions, depression, and difficulty understanding or forming speech. Stroke recovery time varies depending on the severity of these symptoms, with stroke rehabilitation for serious cases often requiring a long-term, multi-faceted approach that includes physical, speech, and occupational therapy.

A brain aneurysm, another common type of non-traumatic brain injury, is an abnormal bulge or “ballooning” in the wall of a brain artery. Most aneurysms produce no symptoms unless they rupture or become very large. Brain aneurysm recovery may include rehabilitative therapy to restore lost function caused by the hemorrhage and the resulting damage to the brain.

A spinal cord injury consists of damage to any part of the spinal cord, or the nerves at the end of the spinal canal. The most common spinal cord injury causes are traumatic accidents such as falls, traffic collisions, and sports injuries. Because the spinal cord carries messages between the brain and the rest of the body, spinal cord injuries can cause serious complications related to multiple bodily functions including bladder and bowel control, skin sensation, circulation, and respiration.

Patients recovering from an acquired brain injury experience a wide range of physical, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional effects. Comprehensive rehabilitation can help them regain independence and improve their quality of life.

Physical therapists help patients regain mobility, which can look very different depending on the patient’s stage of recovery. Therapy might start with range-of-motion exercises or sitting at the edge of the bed and progress to walking down the hallway with little to no support. Occupational therapists work closely with physical therapists to help patients with daily tasks such as brushing hair, shaving, bathing, or putting on clothes. Speech-language pathologists help patients with communicating and swallowing after an ABI. They also help with cognition retraining, focusing on attention, memory, problem solving and executive function.