Early Mobilization and Acute Rehabilitation in the NeuroICU

Severe acquired brain injury (sABI) is defined as acquired brain damage resulting in coma lasting at least 24 hours, sABI may have traumatic, vascular, anoxic, infective, toxic, or other etiology. Disorders of consciousness (DoC) after sABI include coma, vegetative state, the recently named unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, and minimally conscious state. The emergence from a minimally conscious state is diagnosed when functional communication or functional object use is recovered. The neurorehabilitation approach begins with a holistic neurological evaluation of patients with DoC and management of clinical predictive factors, from the intensive care unit to neurorehabilitation wards. Physical and rehabilitation medicine guidelines provide a bio-psychosocial approach to rehabilitation consistent with the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health.