When doctors advised pulling the plug on a comatose 22-year-old after a car crash, his mother sought a lifeline from the Brain Rehabilitation and Injury Network (B.R.A.
I.N). For weeks, the advocacy group’s founder, Sue Rueb, sat vigil with the unresponsive young man, reading to him for about two weeks.
“All we need, sir,” she said to one of the neurologists, “is time.” The researchers enrolled over 3,000 TBI patients from 18 trauma centers across the United States between 2014 and 2021. All participants were enrolled within 24 hours of sustaining their brain injuries, and approximately half were followed for one year.
Out of these patients, 90 died after having life support removed. The researchers then matched these 90 cases with similar participants who had not had life-sustaining treatment withdrawn. While many of those kept on life support eventually died, especially older patients and those with more severe injuries, more than 30 percent of the matched patients were able to recover and achieve some level of independence within six months.
At least half of the younger patients with less severe brain injuries regained independence, with some even able to resume their normal lives. A significant number of TBI survivors develop long-term issues, he added. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines TBI as a chronic disease process.
Potential complications include increased risk of seizures, sleep disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, neuroendocrine problems, psych.
