Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Head injured patients: what they recall about their hospitalization time?

Traumatic brain injured (TBI) patients with different trauma severity were analyzed about their recollection concerning the period of hospitalization. The study was carried out in the Head Injury Outpatient Clinic at the Central Institute of the FMUSP Hospital including 45 conscious patients able to sustain an interview. Most patients were male, young adults with the major cause of trauma such as traffic accidents and falls. Most patients (86%) reported uncosciouness state of different time duration in their hospitalization period and were unable to remember anything related to that period. The predominant recollection reported by the patients who never had consciousness decreased after the trauma and that ones who had it but awoke during the hospitalization were: seeing, feeling, hearing, and reacting either to sounds and procedures.

brain injuries; trauma severity indices; amnesia


Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto / Universidade de São Paulo Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14040-902 Ribeirão Preto SP Brazil, Tel.: +55 (16) 3315-3451 / 3315-4407 - Ribeirão Preto - SP - Brazil
E-mail: rlae@eerp.usp.br