Neuropsychological evaluation of blast-related concussion: illustrating the challenges and complexities through OEF/OIF case studies.

BACKGROUND/

OBJECTIVE

Soldiers of Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF) sustain blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (concussion) with alarming regularity. This study discusses factors in addition to concussion, such as co-morbid psychological difficulty (e.g. post-traumatic stress) and symptom validity concerns that may complicate neuropsychological evaluation in the late stage of concussive injury.

CASE REPORT: The study presents the complexities that accompany neuropsychological evaluation of blast concussion through discussion of three case reports of OEF/OIF personnel.

DISCUSSION: The authors emphasize uniform assessment of blast concussion, the importance of determining concussion severity according to acute-injury characteristics and elaborate upon non-concussion-related factors that may impact course of cognitive limitation. The authors conclude with a discussion of the need for future research examining the impact of blast concussion (particularly recurrent concussion) and neuropsychological performance.