Many injured soldiers suffer brain injuries

By Mary Garrigan, Journal staff | Monday, March 19, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

The U.S. Army Surgeon General reports that 64 percent of those injured in combat in Iraq sustained their injuries in explosive blasts, which are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, ranges from severe and permanent brain damage n like that suffered by Sgt. Corey Briest of Yankton on Dec. 4, 2005, when a roadside bomb detonated in Iraq n to milder injuries that produce headaches, irritability, sleep disorders, forgetfulness and depression linked to closed- head trauma.

About 3,700 combat veterans, both active-duty, reserves and National Guard, have enrolled with the Department of Veterans Affairs in South Dakota for medical and dental care since 2003, although not all have received treatment to date. At the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center, eight to 10 of those veterans have been diagnosed with TBI, a VA spokesman said.

The problem for many TBI sufferers is that their injury may not be obvious immediately, according to Dr. Michael Davies, chief of staff for the VA Black Hills System. “A reliable screening test for mild TBI does not exist,” Davies said.

Sometimes, a closed-head injury becomes apparent only over time and VA staff in the Black Hills are being trained and educated to recognize and treat a broad range of TBI symptoms that may occur later.

“The key step is accurate recognition and diagnosis of symptoms,” Davies said.

The Briest family hopes to return to Yankton, perhaps by this fall, from a private rehabilitation facility in Pomona, Calif., where Corey Briest has been recovering for the past year. Briest, 26, was blinded by shrapnel that tore through his brain. Some of his vision has returned and he has regained the ability to speak. He is relearning how to walk but will always require assistance to live.

Briest is the most seriously injured South Dakotan to return from combat in Iraq. His wife and mother have been outspoken critics of the military health care system, which they say would have relegated him to a lifetime of nursing home care.

Davies acknowledges that it “takes a village” to treat a veteran with a brain injury, but said that the VA Black Hills system has all the necessary components to assess the needs of a TBI patient, and then decide whether the necessary care could be provided directly by area VA facilities or whether it should be purchased from private providers in the area.

“I’m absolutely confident that we can meet their medical needs,” Davies said. “I’m not as confident about returning them to a normal life. These injuries can be life-changing.”