Repeated Low-Level Blast Exposure: A Descriptive Human Subjects Study.

The relationship between repeated exposure to blast overpressure and neurological function was examined in the context of breacher training at the U.S. Marine Corps Weapons Training Battalion Dynamic Entry School.

Biophysical mechanisms of traumatic brain injuries.

Despite years of effort to prevent traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), the occurrence of TBI in the United States alone has reached epidemic proportions. When an external force is applied to the head, it is converted into stresses that must be absorbed into the brain or redirected by a helmet or other protective equipment. Complex interactions of the head, neck, and jaw kinematics result in strains in the brain.

Relation of repeated low-level blast exposure with symptomology similar to concussion.

Objective: To investigate anecdotal reports suggesting that repeated exposure to low-level explosive blast has myriad health impacts, including an array of neurological effects.

Participants: A total of 184 anonymous survey respondents from military and nonmilitary law enforcement populations (135 exposed to occupational blast and 49 controls).

Design: Survey of self-reported history of occupational exposure to repeated low-level blast (breaching blast) and symptomology similar to concussion.

Combat injury coding: a review and reconfiguration.

Background: The current civilian Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), designed for automobile crash injuries, yields important information about civilian injuries. It has been recognized for some time, however, that both the AIS and AIS-based scores such as the Injury Severity Score (ISS) are inadequate for describing penetrating injuries, especially those sustained in combat. Existing injury coding systems do not adequately describe (they actually exclude) combat injuries such as the devastating multi-mechanistic injuries resulting from attacks with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Head injury as a PTSD predictor among Oklahoma City bombing survivors.

Background: The aim of the Oklahoma City (OKC) bombing retrospective review was to investigate the relationship between physical injury, environmental contributors, and psychiatric disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an event-based, matched design study focused on injury.

Methods: The 182 selected participants were a random subset of the 1,092 direct survivors from the OKC bombing. Only 124 of these 182 cases had a full complement of medical/clinical data in the OKC database.

Injuries from explosions: physics, biophysics, pathology, and required research focus.

Background: Explosions cause more complex and multiple forms of damage than any other wounding agent, are the leading cause of death on the battlefield, and are often used by terrorists. Because explosion-related injuries are infrequently seen in civilian practice, a broader base of knowledge is needed in the medical community to address acute needs of patients with explosion-related injuries and to broaden mitigation-focused research efforts. The objective of this review is to provide insight into the complexities of explosion-related injury to help more precisely target research efforts to the most pressing areas of need in primary prevention, mitigation, and consequence management.