Mar 3, 2021 Caution is needed before withdrawing care, researchers warn Most patients with a persistent disorder of consciousness (DOC) after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) eventually recovered consciousness, prospective data showed. By the end of rehabilitation, 82% of patients who had persistent DOC when they were discharged from acute care were able to follow commands, reported Robert Kowalski, MBBCh, MS, of the University of Colorado in Aurora, and co-authors. Median acute hospitalization was 25 days and median rehabilitation stay was 33 days. “Caution is warranted in consideration of withdrawing or withholding care in patients with TBI and DOC,” they wrote in Neurology. “This study found that DOC occurred initially in most patients with TBI and persisted in some patients after rehabilitation, but most patients with persisting DOC recovered consciousness during rehabilitation.”