Neurosurgery and Acquired Brain Injury

An integrated neuro-rehabilitation approach toward the treatment of acquired brain injuries begins with a fundamental understanding of neurosurgical pathologies. Improvements in the neurosurgical knowledge of not only the neuro-rehabilitation team but also the patient family unit allow more cohesive participation and improvements in patient’s outcomes. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a framework for the epidemiology, symptoms, diagnoses, treatment paradigm, and outcomes of the most frequently encountered operative neurosurgical pathologies in the contemporary era. This chapter will seek to illustrate the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes from ABI as a result of traumatic brain injury (concussion, epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, and penetrating injury) or nontraumatic brain injury (spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage, malignant cerebral infraction, brain tumor, and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage). It is expected that this information can be utilized by the integrated neuro-rehabilitation team and family unit to improve patient outcomes.