Virtual reality therapy as adjunct to traditional physical therapy for a TBI patient who suffered a gunshot wound to the head: Case report

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury by gunshot creates a variety of unique sequelae that can be very challenging for clinicians to develop rehabilitation interventions. This case report presents an example of supplementing traditional physical therapy with virtual reality training for a patient who suffered a penetrating traumatic brain injury to the back of the head. By personalizing and modulating the virtual scenes to the patient’s deficits and tolerance for virtual reality exposure, the patient was able to progress in his rehabilitation, which had plateaued after traditional therapy alone. At the conclusion of his rehabilitation, the patient showed clinically meaningful improvements in functional mobility assessments and subjective self-reports.