Emprego de metilfenidato para o tratamento de déficit cognitivo em paciente com seqüela de traumatismo cranioencefálico

traumatic brain injury is the main cause of death and disability among young people. attention deficits and executive dysfunction occur frequently after prefrontal cortex damage. the authors report a case of methylphenidate use for the treatment of cognitive deficits in a patient with a two-year evolution of traumatic brain injury. after two months, the patient reported significant improvement in his cognitive deficits, with increased ability to pay attention to reading, talking, watching films and reduction in the frequency of losing objects. as a side effect, he complained of a small increase in irritability in the first two weeks. the neuropsychological assessment showed a substantial improvement in the mental processing speed, in the omission errors and in the commission errors.