Specific deficits post TBI Flashcards
Post traumatic epilepsy (repeated seizures over time)
occurs in 5-10% of patients with traumatic brain injury, usually within 1 week post injury but may occur much later.
Motor deficits:
- Weakness (paresis): maybe in any or all extremities & or trunk
- ataxia or uncoordinated mm movement
- loss of fine and gross motor dexterity
- balance deficits
- change in normal postural reflex mechanisms (righting, equilibrium, protective extension
- dominance of primitive reflexes ( ATNR etc
- Endurance decreased
- Dysarthria: decrease tone oral facial mm
- tonal abnormalities: flaccidity, spasticity
- Abnormal posturing
Abnormal Posturing:
~Decorticate rigidity: UE flexion, LE extension: lesion above or in upper brainstem
~Decerebrate rigidity:all 4 limbs in extension (hands flexed) lesion in brain stem WORSE
-generally indicates poorer prognosis than decorticate rigidity
Sensory deficits:
Secondary to damage of the central processing areas of the brain: not the organs of sensory perception (eyes, ears)
- Perceptual deficits: neglect, visual field deficits, body scheme
- Visual spatial relationships
- Auditory perception
- Tactile sensations: pain, temperature, touch, stereognosis (perceive form of an object using senses), proprioception and kinesthesia
Laguage Deficits:
Broca’s aphasia: unable to express
Wernicke’s aphasia: unable to receive
Global aphasia
may perseverate or ramble
Other Language disorders:
dysnomia
- anomia
- dyslexia
- dysgraphia
Dysnomia:
Impairment of word finding abilities
Anomia:
Total loss of word finding abilities
Dyslexia
Difficulty understanding printed material
Dysgraphia
Impairment in writing ability (secondary to language deficit not motor deficit)
Cognitive deficits: Greatly overshadow physical deficits and cause the greatest handicap in:
- Independent living
- social re-adaption
- family life
- vocational endeavors learning a skill for a trade
Cognitive deficit: arousal problems:
Difficulty maintaining degree of alertness
Cognitive deficit: Attention deficits:
Lead to inability to filter out irrelevant background stimuli
- Easily distracted- need decrease of environmental stimuli
- need structure to increase performance
Learning memory deficits ranges from:
- Misplacing keys to being virtually unable to remember any new info.
- Concept formation & problem solving deficits that often are not evident in casual conversation
- Pt are unable to profit from an experience & often unable to apply old solutions to new situations or unable to generate different solutions for a given problem
- Instead they may persevere in the application of an unworkable solution, leading to repeated failure & frustration
Executive Deficits:
- May occur after only a mild head injury with no loss of consciousness
- Pt are unable to execute their plans
- No self-directing & or self -initiating abilities
- have difficulty with task completion unless simple and structured task
- So less evident with structured environment
- Pt are generally unaware of problems & efforts @ self-correction are lacking
