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Use time, not just anatomy, to estimate recovery after TBI: the longer the brain cannot sustain orientation and new memory, the more serious the functional disruption is likely to be. For example, two patients can have similar-looking early imaging, but the one who remains confused and amnesic for days is carrying a heavier prognostic signal.

Post-traumatic amnesia reflects a period after injury when continuous memory and orientation have not yet returned. In outcome studies, longer post-traumatic amnesia is strongly associated with worse functional and cognitive recovery, while age, coma duration, Glasgow Coma Scale and physical examination findings may add context. Clinical implications: measure and document post-traumatic amnesia carefully, rather than treating it as a vague historical detail.

Look for duration of confusion, disorientation or inability to lay down new memories after head injury; longer PTA points to more severe injury and poorer outcome.

• Post-traumatic amnesia vs CT appearance, PTA duration predicts outcome even when imaging alone does not settle prognosis.
• Post-traumatic amnesia vs family dementia history: PTA is an injury-severity marker, whereas dementia family history is not the acute TBI prognostic cue.
• Glasgow Coma Scale vs PTA, GCSGlasgow Coma Scale, a score used to measure a person's level of consciousness.Read more → grades early consciousness, whereas PTA tracks recovery of orientation and continuous memory over time.

Trap, assuming a normal or similar CT means prognosis is the same. Resolution: duration of post-traumatic amnesia can still separate outcome risk.

Trap, treating amnesia after injury as psychological because it is a memory symptom. Resolution: PTA is a core organic severity marker after TBI.

Use a step-wise prognosis ladder, first identify TBI severity markers, then ask which one captures duration of impaired consciousness or memory, then choose PTA when the question asks about long-term function.