Traumatic brain injury (TBI), in particular mild TBI (mTBI), is a relatively common injury experienced by service members across both deployed and nondeployed environments. Although many of the principles and practices used by civilian health care providers for identifying and treating this injury apply to military settings, there are unique factors that impact mTBI-related care in service members and Veterans. This article reviews several of these factors, including the epidemiology of TBI in the military/Veteran population, the influence of military culture on this condition, and identification and treatment of mTBI in the war zone.
Keywords: Blast injury; Concussion; Military; Polytrauma; Postconcussive syndrome; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Veteran.
Published by Elsevier Inc.