ABSTRACT
Although types and modes of combat injury have changed over the centuries as weapons of war evolved, details about combat traumatic brain injury (TBI) date from the earliest accounts of warfare. This chapter provides a brief historical overview of combat TBI resulting from primitive blunt and penetrating head injuries to current blast-related injuries. Updated numbers of TBI events and injuring mechanisms will be considered. Brain injury causes loss or alteration of consciousness, prograde and retrograde amnesia, and immediate physical and neurological effects ranging from mild to severe. These injuries, in certain cases, cause varying chronic physical, cognitive, and behavioral issues. The most common form of brain injury, acute mild TBI or concussion (mTBI/ concussion), has multiple definitions derived from various sources. Vasterling et al. have provided a useful summary of these iterations (Vasterling, 2012).
