Citation

Swanson TM, Isaacson BM, Cyborski CM, French LM, Tsao JW, Pasquina PF. Public Health Rep. (1974) 2017; 132(2): 251-259.

Affiliation

Department of Rehabilitation, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Association of Schools of Public Health)

DOI

10.1177/0033354916687748

PMID

28135424

Abstract

Exposure to explosive armaments during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom contributed to approximately 14% of the 352 612 traumatic brain injury (TBI) diagnoses in the US military between 2000 and 2016. The US Department of Defense issued guidelines in 2009 to (1) standardize TBI diagnostic criteria; (2) classify TBI according to mechanism and severity; (3) categorize TBI symptoms as somatic, psychological, or cognitive; and (4) systematize types of care given during the acute and rehabilitation stages of TBI treatment. Polytrauma and associated psychological and neurologic conditions may create barriers to optimal rehabilitation from TBI. Given the completion of recent combat operations and the transition of TBI patients into long-term care within the US Department of Veterans Affairs system, a review of the literature concerning TBI is timely. Long-term follow-up care for patients who have sustained TBI will remain a critical issue for the US military.

Language: en

Keywords

TBI; blast injury; classification; military; traumatic brain injury