Differential diagnosis of agitation following brain injury

Posttraumatic agitation is perhaps the most dramatic behavioral consequence of severe traumatic brain injury. The mechanism for this behavior remains to be determined. The development of effective management strategies has been hampered at least in part by the lack of a consensus definition for posttraumatic agitation. The diagnosis of posttraumatic agitation is a diagnosis of exclusion. Concurrent neurologic or medical decline during the recovery from an acute traumatic brain injury may precipitate delirium, which has many clinical features that overlap with posttraumatic agitation. Hence, the differential diagnosis of posttraumatic agitation includes all medical and neurologic etiologies for transient declines in consciousness and cognition.