Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Improves Some Neurophysiological Parameters but not Clinical Outcomes after Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Background: Disorders of consciousness (DOC) are one of the clinical hallmarks of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). DOC impair patient life quality and increase the burden on their families and society. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of routine rehabilitation combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in DOC patients after TBI. A total of 78 DOC patients were randomly divided after TBI into two groups: participants in the treatment group received routine rehabilitation combined with an active tDCS protocol. In contrast, participants in the control group received routine rehabilitation combined with a sham tDCS protocol. An anode was placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and a cathode was placed over the right supraorbital area. The stimulation intensity was 2 mA. Both tDCS protocols lasted for eight consecutive weeks (20 minutes per day, six days per week). Patients were followed up for a further eight weeks. Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), brainstem auditory evoked potentials, somatosensory evoked potentials and electroencephalogram were measured at weeks zero, two, four, six, eight and sixteen from the start of tDCS. Results: Neither the GOS nor GCS scores differed significantly between the two groups, while brainstem auditory evoked potentials, somatosensory evoked potentials and electroencephalogram scores did. Conclusions: This study found that tDCS improves some neurophysiological parameters but not clinical outcomes of DOC patients after TBI.