TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - The natural history of acute recovery of blast-induced mild traumatic brain injury: a case series during war
JO  - Military medicine
A1  - Larres, David T.
A1  - Carr, Walter
A1  - Gonzales, Elizandro G.
A1  - Hawley, Jason S.
SP  - 23
EP  - 27
VL  - 181
IS  - 5 Suppl
N2  - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) secondary to blast exposure is a common injury in the Global War on Terrorism, but little is known about the acute effects, recovery, pathophysiology, and neuropathology of blast-induced mild TBI (mTBI) in humans in a battlefield environment. Moreover, there is ongoing debate whether blast-induced mTBI is a different injury with a unique pathophysiology compared with mTBI from blunt trauma. In the case series reported here from Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, 15 military service members with acute concussion/mTBI associated with blast exposure were evaluated within the first 24 hours after concussion and on days 2, 3, 5, and 7 with a Graded Symptom Checklist and a balance assessment, the Balance Error Scoring System. These data suggest that the recovery in blast-induced mTBI follows the pattern of recovery in sports-related concussion reported in The National Collegiate Athletic Association Concussion Study. In this retrospective case series, we provide the first description of the natural history of acute recovery in blast-induced mTBI, and we suspect, given our experience treating military service members, that further observations of the natural history of recovery in blast-induced mTBI will continue to mirror the natural history of recovery in sports concussion.<br><br>Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0026-4075
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00152
ID  - ref1
ER  -