Aquatic Sequential Preparatory Approach and Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Aquatic Therapy During Post-acute Intensive Neurorehabilitation in Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: a Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired insult to the brain from an external mechanical force. It is considered a major cause of mortality and of long-term disabilities in young adults, especially considering high-income countries.

The TBI can cause a wide range of temporary and/or permanent brain's dysfunctions that can involve physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional functioning limiting everyday life and social activities and leading to a lowers quality of life.

a sequential preparatory approach (SPA), performed in aquatic environment, based on increasing difficulty and following a specific sequence of preparatory exercises (from the simplest to the most complex) could be an effective complementary training during post-acute intensive rehabilitation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI).

Inclusion Criteria:

• age between 15 and 65 years;
• Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score ≤ 8 (used to objectively describe the severity of impaired consciousness at the time of injury)
• level of cognitive functioning (LCF) ≥7;
• ability to understand verbal commands.
• acclimatization to water.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cognitive deficits affecting the ability to understand task instructions (Mini-Mental State Examination > 24);
• Severe unilateral spatial neglect (diagnosed with a test battery that included the Letter Cancellation test, Barrage test, Sentence Reading test and the Wundt-Jastrow Area Illusion Test);
• Severe aphasia (diagnosed by means of neuropsychological assessment);
• Presence of other neurological diseases;
• Presence of cutaneous and mycosis infections;
• Presence of open wounds, eczema, skin ulcers, decubitus lesions, severe burns;
• Presence of PEG (Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy);
• Presence of tracheostomy;
• Urinary incontinence;
• Presence of otitis
• Presence of orthopedic or cardiac comorbidities that would limit participation in the experimental and conventional training (all of which were clinically evaluated).