Background: To determine the effect of brain lesion pattern on early recovery after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Methods: In a setting of a multimodal early rehabilitation unit at a level I trauma center, 135 consecutive survivors of severe TBI (mean age, 40 years, 25% women) were studied prospectively. Assessment of disability was performed weekly using an extended Barthel Index (eBI) ranging from -325 to +100 points. Clinical and brain morphologic variables were tested in multivariate logistic regression models to determine predictors of outcome.
Results: Imaging revealed cerebral contusion in 115 patients (85%) affecting the frontal (n = 80), temporal (n = 62), parieto-occipital (n = 17), brain stem (n = 13), and cerebellar (n = 5) regions. In addition, 80 patients (59%) showed diffuse brain edema, 75 (55%) subarachnoid, 37 (28%) subdural, and 18 (13%) epidural hemorrhage. After a mean stay of 72 +/- 51 days in the early rehabilitation unit, one patient died, 40 (30%) revealed good outcome (median eBI, +55), and a further 43 patients (32%) showed excellent outcomes (eBI, 90-100). Temporal (odds ratio 2.6; 95% confidence interval 1.1-6.5) and brain stem contusions (odds ratio 13.8; 95% confidence interval 3.0-64.1) were independent predictors of poor outcome.
Conclusions: Temporal and brain stem contusions constitute independent risk factors for poor outcome in survivors of severe TBI. The results further suggest a high potential for multimodal early rehabilitation after severe TBI.