ABSTRACT
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been described as the "signature wound" of operations Enduring Freedom (OEF), Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and New Dawn (OND). The large number of military casualties in those conflicts coupled with the public's emerging interest in sports concussion, has fueled considerable interest in TBI and research related to its causes, treatment, and long-term effects. This chapter focuses on TBI in a military population, including some typical injury mechanisms for this population, especially blast, comorbid conditions (including posttraumatic stress disorder) that are common, and long-term concerns in this group. Closed TBI can be differentiated as mild (also known as concussion), moderate, or severe, typically based upon acute injury characteristics that are used to determine the severity of the particular TBI. In the military, the most frequent cause of TBI in service members has been the explosive device.
