International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Abstract

Physician Heal Thyself

Thomas DJB

Hippocrates reported that ‘No head Injury was so severe that it must be despaired of!’ over two thousand years ago [1]. We now divide Traumatic Brain Injury into open and closed varieties, with open brain injury having a communication between the brain and the external world. Closed brain injury can still be a very severe injury, with contusion and oedema. As well as the initial injury there are complicating factors which make rehabilitation difficult. It was previously recognised that a long period of Post Traumatic amnesia meant patients did not benefit from rehabilitation for some time [2]. Similarly associated psychiatric illness [3] and age [4] can limit rehabilitation. Dramatic interventions, such as Hypothermia have been used to preserve Brain Function, but the effectiveness is not generally accepted [5]. Rehabilitation with a trained team is currently the best practice.