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In mild TBI, one person may recover quickly and completely, while another may experience significant challenges even several years after injury. (Recovery after mild TBI is discussed more fully in a later question, What Problems Emerge after a Mild TBI?)
In more severe injuries, recovery is a multistage process, which typically continues in a variety of ways for months and years. However, the length of this recovery process is not uniform, and the stages of recovery that are typical when considering the population as a whole, may be very different for any specific individual. Stages may not proceed step-wise but may overlap, one stage with the next, or one or more stages may be skipped altogether. The early recovery process is discussed more fully in the next question.
How is recovery measured right after injury?
The progress seen during the immediate recovery period in individuals with severe to moderate TBI is often tracked using the Rancho Los Amigos Scale, which specifies eight levels - from the depths of coma to return to awareness and purposeful activity. These levels of recovery of functioning reflect processes within the brain, as it heals, stabilizes, and reorganizes itself to some extent.
Although the Rancho scale assumes that recovery will pass through eight stages, a small percentage of people with severe injuries remain stuck at Levels I to III for months or years. They remain in coma or in a relatively unresponsive state and fail to return to purposeful, appropriate functioning.
Rancho Los Amigos Scale
- Level I (No Response): The individual is in deep coma and does not respond to any stimuli.
- Level II (Generalized Response): The person sleeps most of the time, with periods of brief wakefulness. Responses and movements are largely reflexes not purposeful.
- Level III (Localized Response): The person is alert for lengthier periods. He/she reacts inconsistently to commands, but his/her responses are related to the type of stimulus presented. For example, noises will produce a listening response.
- Level IV (Confused and Agitated): As awareness increases, the individual's behavior reflects his/her sense of confusion and disorganization. Aggressive and/or silly behavior may be seen, with verbal abuse, agitated actions, and incoherent speech. The person's attention span is too short to allow full cooperation in treatment programs; and the person is unable to do basic tasks, such as eating, independently.
- Level V (Confused, Inappropriate, Not Agitated): Simple commands are now followed consistently; the person's long-term memory is returning; and she/he can now carry out over-learned skills such as eating. Difficulty is evident in following complex commands, short-term memory, learning new skills, and concentrating for more than a few minutes.
- Level VI (Confused, Appropriate): The individual begins to show goal-directed behavior, but usually still needs direction. The person is more aware of his/her deficits, family members, and so forth. He/she can carry out more tasks independently and retains relearned skills from one occasion to the next.
- Level VII (Automatic, Appropriate): The individual performs daily routines automatically and is better able to learn new skills, although slower than before injury. The person still has poor short-term memory; judgment and problem solving are still impaired.
- Level VIII (Purposeful, Appropriate): The person is able to function once more in the community. Impairments in cognitive, social, and emotional functioning, to a greater or lesser extent, may continue.
From Mount Sinai Medical Center. www.mssm.edu.
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