Cognitive rehabilitation in a neuropsychological and functional impairments case by severe traumatic brain injury

Introduction: traumatic brain injury is in the present one of the most important causes of disability in young people, because cognitive and physical impairments limit patient's work, academic and social activities performance. Cognitive consequences - specially mnesic, attentional and executive consequences- interfer in daily life activities. For this reason it is necessary to intervent altered areas through a cognitive rehabilitation program. Clinic case: male patient 24 years old, 11 years of education has severe traumatic brain injury. After acute period, when he go out from the hospital, he showed multiple cognitive impairments that affected daily life activities. A cognitive rehabilitation program is planned and started by using substitution and restitution strategies. Intervention is carried on along one year in three sessions per week. Neurological and neuropsychological monitoring was made before, during and alter the program; an improvement in cognitive processes and patient's functionality was observed during rehabilitation. Conclusions: cognitive rehabilitation process can be more effective so far than spontaneous recovery as rehabilitation can improve cognitive processes of a patient with neuropsychological impairments and alterations in daily life activities, secondary to traumatic brain injury. Cognitive rehabilitation is in the present a therapeutic skill useful for treatment of brain injured patient.