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Rehabilitation in Children with Disorder of Consciousness

  • Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (A Houtrow and M Fuentes, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Consciousness is a state of wakefulness with awareness of self and the environment. Disorder of consciousness (DOC) can result from any type of acquired brain injury (ABI). While children with ABI and DOC are commonly encountered in pediatric rehabilitation settings, research in this population is lacking, necessitating extrapolation from adult literature.

Recent Findings

Adults and children with DOC who participate in specialized inpatient rehabilitation programs show functional gains during and following the inpatient admission. Here, we present a model for an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program for children with DOC along with data supporting the evaluation and management approaches, where available.

Summary

Careful, interdisciplinary assessment using appropriate tools as well as a range of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions supports the rehabilitation and recovery of children with DOC. Additional research focused on children with DOC will be crucial for enhancing the evidence related to this population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kennedy Krieger Institute, 707 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Nancy Yeh, Beth S. Slomine, Valerie Paasch, Heather B. McLean & Stacy J. Suskauer

  2. Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Nancy Yeh, Beth S. Slomine & Stacy J. Suskauer

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Beth S. Slomine & Valerie Paasch

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Stacy J. Suskauer

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  1. Nancy Yeh
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  2. Beth S. Slomine
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  3. Valerie Paasch
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  4. Heather B. McLean
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  5. Stacy J. Suskauer
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Correspondence to Nancy Yeh.

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Conflict of Interest

Stacy Suskauer reports grants from National Institutes of Health and Foundation for Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation outside the submitted work. Nancy Yeh, Beth Slomine, Valerie Paasch, and Heather McLean declare no conflict of interest relevant to this manuscript.

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All reported studies/experiments with human or animal subjects performed by the authors have been previously published and complied with all applicable ethical standards (including the Helsinki declaration and its amendments, institutional/national research committee standards, and international/national/institutional guidelines).

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Yeh, N., Slomine, B.S., Paasch, V. et al. Rehabilitation in Children with Disorder of Consciousness. Curr Phys Med Rehabil Rep 7, 94–103 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40141-019-0214-4

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