Impaired Consciousness in the Traumatic Brain Injury Patient.

Acute disturbances in cognition and consciousness are widely prevalent in neurologic intensive care units and have been associated with worse outcomes. Studies of critically ill patients with traumatic brain injuries have found that delirium developed in up to 60% of cases for a median duration of 4 days. Selection of analgesics and sedating agents for these patients can be challenging and management strategies should include consideration of altered cerebral physiology that commonly occurs after TBI in order to optimize recovery times and long term cognitive funciton.