Review: Managing posttraumatic stress disorder in combat veterans with comorbid traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Military deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq have been associated with elevated prevalence of both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) among combat veterans. The diagnosis and management of PTSD when a comorbid TBI may also exist presents a challenge to interdisciplinary care teams at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and civilian medical facilities, particularly when the patient reports a history of blast exposure. Treatment recommendations from VA and Department of Defense's (DOD) recently updated VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Post-Traumatic Stress are considered from the perspective of simultaneously managing comorbid TBI.