Citation

Dretsch M, Kelly M, Coldren R, Parish R, Russell M. J. Neurotrauma 2014; 32(16): 1217-1222.

Affiliation

National Intrepid Center of Excellence , 8901 Wisconsin Ave , Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20889, US Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Fort Rucker, Alabama, United States ; dretschphd@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Mary Ann Liebert Publishers)

DOI

10.1089/neu.2014.3637

PMID

25367048

Abstract

Seventy-one deployed U.S. Army Soldiers presenting for concussion care due to either blast or blunt mechanisms within 72 hours of injury were assessed using the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE), Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM), traditional neuropsychological tests, and health status questionnaires. Follow-up ANAM testing was performed 10 days after initial testing +/- 5 days. Twenty-one Soldiers were excluded: two for poor effort and 19 with combined blast/blunt injuries. Of the remaining 50 male participants, 34 had blast injuries and 16 had blunt injuries. There were no statistically significant differences between blast injury and blunt injury participants in demographic, physical or psychological health factors, concussive symptoms, or automated and traditional neurocognitive testing scores within 72 hours post-injury. In addition, follow-up ANAM scores up to 15 days post-injury were also not significantly different (available on 21 blast-injured and 13 blunt-injured subjects). Pre-injury baseline ANAM scores were compared where available, and revealed no statistically significant differences between 22 blast and 8 blunt participants. These findings suggest there are no significant differences between mechanisms of injury during both the acute and subacute periods in neurobehavioral concussion sequelae while deployed in a combat environment. The current study supports the use of sports/mechanical-concussion models for early concussion management in the deployed setting and exploration of variability in potential long-term outcomes.

Language: en