Aquired brain injury

Hypernatremia has been significantly associated with in-hospital mortality and discharge to long-term care facilities. The appropriate correction of electrolyte disturbances, especially sodium, is important to consider to prevent the addition of central nervous system disturbances, such as cerebral edema and eventual brain injury. The importance of maintaining a proper correction of hypernatremia has been well studied and used in clinical practice. Choosing to use a hypotonic solution is a key principle. It is of utmost importance to adjust the rate of correction based on the patient's symptoms, underlying etiology, and associated comorbidities...

BACKGROUND: A patient with severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI) may experience impairment in the physiological swallowing process. Many studies in the rehabilitation field have sought to understand the effects of local vibration therapy at various levels of the central nervous system and the possible benefits in neuro-rehabilitation. There are few studies directed toward the use of vibratory energy for improving swallowing and phonatory function. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of integrating conventional dysphagia therapy with the focal vibration therapy in patients with sABI...

PURPOSE: To explore the meanings associated with being a parent of a child with an aquired brain injury (ABI). METHODS: An ethnographic study was conducted with parents of children aged 3 to 10 years who had acquired a severe brain injury. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit parents from the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. Data collection involved participant observation, fieldwork and semi-structured interviews. Field notes and interviews transcriptions were analysed using a thematic analysis framework and informed by symbolic interactionism theory...

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of two adapted versions of the interpersonal communication competence scale (ICCS) that were applied to people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Construct validity was tested for both new scales and a factor extraction was performed on the proxy-rating version aiming to establish if it revealed meaningful constructs. METHODS: ICCS was translated from English to Danish language, pilot tested and slightly modified for use as a self-rating scale with people with ABI...

PURPOSE: To investigate how individualised occupation-based interventions with commonly available everyday technology (ET) can compensate for perceived difficulties with daily life tasks after an aquired brain injury (ABI) and improve satisfaction with occupational performance. METHOD: This intervention study was designed as a multiple case study according to Yin. Ten men and women with an ABI (traumatic or non-traumatic) participated. Data were collected through interviews, observations and field notes before and after the intervention and at follow-up (on average 11 weeks afterwards)...

The aim of this study was to identify and describe the characteristics of the difficulties using everyday technology in persons with an aquired brain injury (ABI), and their experiences of how these difficulties influenced their life. Thirteen persons with an ABI were interviewed about their difficulties in using everyday technology and were observed in their use of technology. Data were analysed qualitatively with a constant comparative method. The results showed that the persons' experiences formed two categories: “A variety of combinations of difficulties in the use of everyday technology” and “Restrictions in life”...

Management of patients with minor head trauma (MHT) continues to be debated in the literature. Measurement of S-100b in serum has been introduced into the discussion as an additional screening tool for intracerebral injuries because routine cranial computed tomography (CCT) of a large number of patients causes logistic difficulties, and the neurologic examination is often impaired by a high frequency of coincidental intoxication. The aim of our study was to determine the diagnostic value of measuring S-100b in the serum of MHT patients to identify risk groups...

The early evolution of ischemic brain injury under normoglycemic and streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemic plasma conditions was studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to either permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), or 1-h MCAO followed by reperfusion using the intraluminal suture insertion method. The animals were divided into four groups each with eight rats: normoglycemia with permanent MCAO, normoglycemia with 1-h MCAO, hyperglycemia with permanent MCAO, and hyperglycemia with 1-h MCAO...