Nutritional Needs of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

[Guest guest]

http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=d713db21-b943-42b4-aea0-5019\

59fc009f

Nutritional Needs of Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

Contributor: Demas Rosenthal

SUMMARY: Once a traumatic brain injury patient’s condition has been stabilized,

a special nutritional plan must be created and put into immediate effect.

According to New York neurosurgeon Hartl, M.D. and other experts, there

seems to be a direct relationship between long-term survival of TBI patients and

early nutritional intervention.

In fact, a six-year, New York State trauma center study revealed that the TBI

patients who did not receive adequate nutrition through stomach (or other) tubes

during the first five days following their injuries were twice as likely to die

than those who received such care. Furthermore, if these patients were not

provided with the proper nutrition during the first seven days after they were

injured, they were four times more like to die than the TBI patients who

received such care.