Treatment of the elderly brain-injured patient. Experience in a traumatic brain injury unit.

Recovery from traumatic brain injury in the elderly is a subject rarely discussed in the medical literature, and existing data is conflicting. The Traumatic Brain Injury Unit at Gaylord Hospital routinely admits patients over 50 years of age for rehabilitation after significant closed head injury. Of the 26 elderly head-injured patients reviewed over a four-year period for this study, 85% eventually returned to a home setting, with more than half independent in activities of daily living. Based on this encouraging data, it is suggested that the older head-injured patient can recover from severe closed head injury.