News Release

For Immediate Release -- January 23, 2014

New Clinical Recommendations Released for Traumatic Brain Injuries

(WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2014) The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) has released new clinical recommendations to help service members who have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), otherwise known as concussion, to progressively return to their normal activities following their injury. These clinical recommendations are available for military and civilian health care professionals.

Progressive Return to Activity Following Acute Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: Guidance for the Primary Care Manager and the Rehabilitation Provider in Deployed and Non-deployed Setting Clinical Recommendations can be downloaded from DVBIC's website at http://dvbic.dcoe.mil/resources/progressive-return-to-activity.

"The Progressive Return to Activity Following mTBI Clinical Recommendations are the first of its kind and are tailored for primary care managers and rehabilitation providers. These recommendations offer a standardized medical approach for service members who have sustained a mTBI to return to activity in a manner which facilitates optimal recovery," said Army Col. Sidney Hinds, II, DVBIC national director. "We created these clinical recommendations because of a need identified by our Armed Services and Veterans Affairs stakeholders. The mTBI patient was our focus and we vetted these recommendations with our stakeholders before publication."

These guidelines were developed with input from academic experts, sports concussion clinicians and military TBI experts and will assist health care providers as they monitor patients recovering from concussion.

"These recommendations will further improve and standardize the care provided to patients with mild TBI and offer them useful information to become more actively involved in their recovery," said the Director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Navy Capt. Richard Stoltz.

Since 2000, more than 287,000 U.S. service members have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). These injuries have occurred both in training and combat. Eighty-three percent of TBIs are mTBIs, making it the most common form of brain injury for U.S. Armed Forces personnel.

"DVBIC has more than 20-years' experience in researching, treating and developing clinical guidance for TBI patients. Our work benefits not only military medicine, but the entire medical community as well," said Hinds, who is board certified in neurology and nuclear medicine.

About DVBIC

The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) is part of the U.S. Military Health System. It is the TBI operational component of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). For more information, please visit: http://dvbic.dcoe.mil/.

About DCoE

The mission of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) is to improve the lives of our nation's service members, families and veterans by advancing excellence in psychological health and traumatic brain injury prevention and care. DCoE serves as the principal integrator and authority on psychological health and traumatic brain injury knowledge and standards for the Department of Defense. The organization is comprised of three centers: Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), Deployment Health Clinical Center (DHCC) and National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2). Learn more about DCoE at http://www.dcoe.mil/.

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