The History and Evolution of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation in Military Service Members and Veterans

Abstract

The field of traumatic brain injury has evolved since the time of the Civil War in response to the needs of patients with injuries and disabilities resulting from war. The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center have been in the forefront of the development of the interdisciplinary approach to the rehabilitation of soldiers with traumatic brain injury, particularly those injured from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The objectives of this literature review are to examine how the casualties resulting from major wars in the past led to the establishment of the current model of evaluation and treatment of traumatic brain injury and to review how the field has expanded in response to the growing cohort of military service members and veterans with TBI.