Case Report
Differential Diagnosis and Management of Incomplete Locked-In Syndrome after Traumatic Brain Injury
Table 3
Differential diagnosis: acute onset of quadriplegia and mutism.
| Diagnoses considered | | Key finding to rule out | |
| Disorder of consciousness | | Assessment revealing patient wakefulness and ability to communicate via eye gaze | ✕ | ↓ | Upper cervical spinal cord injury | | Observation of normal, quiet respiration and impairment of supraspinal muscles | ✕ | ↓ | Akinetic mutism | | Lack of automatic protective extension/equilibrium reactions and no withdrawal to pain | ✕ | ↓ | Locked-in syndrome | | Primary suspected diagnosis by exclusion of other likely diagnoses | ✓ |
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