Neuropsychological Assessment and Rehabilitation of BI - Practice Settings
Care for newborns with suspected and diagnosed brain injuries is provided in a setting where round-the-clock medical care is usually available. Such a practice setting is typically a well-equipped hospital.
Get A 100% Free CASE EvaluationAdvanced care is often required to keep infants alive, especially those that have suffered intracranial bleeding or oxygen deprivation.
Advanced monitoring systems are needed to assess the full extent of the injuries. For example, the University of California San Francisco Children’s Hospital opened a clinical unit in 2008 (part of the Newborn Brain Research Institute), focused on treating the infant's brain. It has implemented amplitude integrated electroencephalography, also known as cerebral function monitoring. Many facilities use it for infants with seizures, but it’s a part of routine care at the clinic as is equipment such as incubators. Such a practice setting tracks brain function while treatments are ongoing, and help to mitigate risks of further injury during the process.
Innovative treatments such as brain cooling are provided in the intensive clinical practice setting as well. Such treatment is best administered within hours of birth. Numerous studies have shown that it can prevent the effects of brain damage or minimize their impacts later on.
Another type of equipment used is an incubator-based MRI. It enables doctors to image brain anatomy and maintain a controlled environment for premature babies. Brain development can be tracked as well, but constant medical care is required in such cases for many reasons, including maintaining pulmonary, cardiac, and other biological functions.
Immediate Intensive Care Can Avoid Brain Damage
University College London physicians and scientists found that the damage often doesn’t happen at delivery, in a 2004 study along with University College London Hospitals NHS Trust. Reported on News-Medical.net, the discoveries included a several-hour window until injuries become permanent. In the right setting, preventative treatments can, therefore, be administered that can reduce the risk of death from oxygen-deprivation and other issues during birth. Efficient care can potentially limit developmental delays, mental impairment, and conditions such as cerebral palsy if provided right away and given the accessibility of care, equipment, and expertise to identify and manage birth brain injuries as they happen.