New Treatment Protocols May Be Useful for Mild TBI Victims with Chronic Symptoms

July 13, 2021, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Most people with mild traumatic brain injury recover with time find treatment from their injury however, some go on to suffer from lingering – chronic symptoms. A recent study entitled "Targeted Intervention Improves Symptoms and Impairments in Patients With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury With Chronic Symptom: A Prospective, Multiple Interventional Research Trial" undertaken by the US Defense Department and the University of Pittsburgh has determined three important findings for these individuals. 

mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury) has the potential for serious long-term symptoms. The study evaluated whether participants’ anxiety/mood symptoms, sleep quality and vestibular/ocular symptoms improved after 6 months of active intervention.  

The study concluded that mTBI:

• Can have long-term disabling consequences for patients
• Each injury is very different
• Targeted intervention based on the individual symptom presentation can reduce symptoms in patients who previously were considered to have intractable symptoms.

Specifically, the conclusions stated that “Large effects were observed for concussion, anxiety, sleep, and dizziness symptom reduction over 6-month treatment. Each primary outcome demonstrated a larger treatment effect for the given trajectory than the overall sample, indicating that targeted treatment can reduce symptom burden in patients with mTBI with chronic symptoms.”

From a clinical standpoint, this means that the traditional approach of ignoring symptoms and hoping they reduce with time is not a good approach for the patient. The study advocates those individuals be prescribed multiple and targeted treatments using the clinical profile framework. This approach was found to improve symptomology across multiple domains particularly for patients with psychiatric and sleep profiles.

The difficulty remains that brain injury is different in every patient and there is no one approach or treatment protocol that yields a predictable outcome in a predictable timeline.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident due to someone else’s negligence please contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at Deutschmann Personal Injury Law. You need someone working for your future – don’t face your situation alone.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.