Physical therapy differential diagnosis for a patient with viral central nervous system infection in acute care: a case study

Introduction: This case report presents a patient with respiratory distress who went into coma and was admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU). The paper will discuss the initial impressions in the ICU and the differential diagnosis considered to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. It will demonstrate how information from physical therapy contributed to discern the proper diagnosis, and the evolving treatment plan and interventions as the patient progressed and discharged out of the ICU into the hospital floors. Methods: This is a case of a 32-year-old male who self-admitted to the emergency department (ED) of his local hospital due to shortness of breath, weakness, and high fever. The study will detail how physical therapy helped analyze the patient’s condition to arrive at the most appropriate management of the patient. Results: The patient underwent 10 physical therapy sessions in the acute care setting before being transferred out to an acute rehabilitation unit, and then discharged to home. Discussion: This article highlights the role of physical therapy in acute care rehabilitation of a patient with a complex presentation following a viral central nervous system (CNS) disease and its efforts in ensuring proper discharge disposition