A rare presentation of obsessive-compulsive disorder after traumatic brain injury: Case report

Abstract

In this paper, we report the case of a man in his 60 s with a first onset obsessive-compulsive disorder following a traumatic brain injury. Although not the most prevalent clinical presentation, obsessive-compulsive symptoms have been reported after traumatic brain injury. Psychopathology in post-traumatic brain injury context is not infrequent, however reported cases of post-traumatic brain injury obsessive compulsive disorder are described as rare in the current literature. An examination of the patient's mental state revealed obsessive thoughts of dirt and contamination, accompanied by compulsive cleaning and sanitizing behaviors with 3 years of evolution, with onset 2 years after traumatic brain injury and right frontopolar hemorrhage. While obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive symptoms tend to be recognizable psychiatric phenomena, neurobehavioral sequelae in a post-traumatic brain injury context can present multiple manifestations and resemble obsessive compulsive phenomena, without actually constituting obsessive compulsive disorder. This is a rare presentation of a post-traumatic brain injury obsessive compulsive disorder with very few similar cases described to date.