ABC30.com, 05/24/2007 - As many as 20% of service members returning from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan will have some level of traumatic brain injury.

This spring the Department of Defense acknowledged traumatic brain injury as a "significant health concern" and vowed to identify it among active duty troops. But many new cases are likely to emerge as troops transition to civilian life as veterans.

Military records show that 60% of the 25,000 war injuries to date resulted from explosive blasts like IED's or roadside bombs. And nearly 3,000 of the wounded are currently being treated for severe traumatic brain injury or TBI.

Fresno V.A. Hospital emergency room doctor James Lindsay says injuries in this war are different from other wars when bullets did the majority of the damage.

Dr. Lindsay, Fresno V.A. E.R. physician, says "there's less ballistic wounding from actual gunfire and more blast injuries and blast injuries typically produce traumatic brain injuries." And those blasts can leave an injury without ever breaking the skin.

Read the article here.

Labels: Iraq veterans, Iraq War, TBI, traumatic brain injury