The Neurological Rehabilitation of Adults With Coma and Disorders of Consciousness.

Background: Severe quantitative disorders of consciousness (DoC) due to acute brain injury affect up to 47% of patients upon admission to intensive care and early rehabilitation units. Nevertheless, the rehabilitation of this vulnerable group of patients has not yet been addressed in any German-language guidelines and has only been studied in a small number of randomized clinical trials.

Methods: In an S3 clinical practice guideline project, a systematic literature search was carried out for interventions that could improve consciousness in patients with coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, or minimally conscious state after acute brain injury, and an evidence-based evaluation of these interventions was performed.

Assessment of Nociception and Pain in Participants in an Unresponsive or Minimally Conscious State After Acquired Brain Injury: The Relation Between the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised and the Nociception Coma Scale-Revised.

Objectives: To investigate the relation between consciousness and nociceptive responsiveness (ie, Nociception Coma Scale-Revised [NCS-R]), to examine the suitability of the NCS-R for assessing nociception in participants with disorders of consciousness (DOC), and to replicate previous findings on psychometric properties of the scale.

Design: Specialized DOC program.

Setting: Specialized DOC program and university hospitals.

[Costs associated with multiresistant bacteria in neurorehabilitation].

Background And Objectives: The number of patients with multiresistant bacteria (MRB) in rehabilitation facilities is increasing. The increasing costs of hygienic isolation measures reduce resources available for core rehabilitation services. In addition to the existing lack of care, patients with MRB are at further risk of being given lower priority for admission to rehabilitation facilities.

[A rare cause of acute respiratory failure].

This article describes a case report on a rare cause of acute respiratory failure. The patient suffered from a rapidly progressing respiratory insufficiency due to intoxication with a neurotoxin (botulism). A rapid diagnosis proved to be very difficult due to the rarity of the disease itself and the difficulties encountered in the clinical examination caused by early initiation of intubation, artificial ventilation and analgosedation.

Integration of intensive care treatment and neurorehabilitation in patients with disorders of consciousness: a program description and case report.

Severe brain injuries frequently result in disorders of consciousness, requiring intensive care unit treatment. We present a rehabilitative system that integrates neurorehabilitation into intensive care treatment. The system will be described using the case report of a young man who was in a vegetative state after a severe traumatic brain injury that resulted in major medical problems and complications.