Military Continues Brain Injury Research to Improve Care
Posted by Beth Schwinn, DCoE Public Affairs on March 30, 2015
Although research is critical to improving treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI), service members currently coping with TBI receive the best available care, said Army Col. Sidney Hinds, Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) national director.
“Our goal is to provide the best care possible for our patients using carefully evaluated research and clinical practice knowledge,” said Hinds, a neurologist, during his presentation at the annual meeting of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology in February. “We use solid, state-of-the-science therapies to help patients today, while we continue to conduct research to improve TBI treatments for tomorrow.”
An estimated 2 million Americans sustain a TBI each year, and more than 320,000 service members have experienced them since 2000. The vast majority are concussions, known to researchers as mild TBIs. Gaps in TBI knowledge make understanding traumatic brain injury challenging. There have been more than two dozen failed clinical treatment trials. However, experts are optimistic that information derived from research endeavors will propel the field forward.
Meanwhile, military doctors and others have uncovered therapies to help patients restore at least partial brain function after a TBI. DVBIC and the Department of Veterans Affairs have collaborated on a clinical pathway of care for TBI.
Experts work to turn the latest clinically-approved strategies in TBI care for service members and veterans into clinical recommendations. These resources are vetted with government and nongovernment subject matter experts and then released for use in military treatment facilities through dvbic.dcoe.mil, Hinds said.
Among the research projects currently underway, Hinds emphasized three collaborative studies led by DVBIC:
A study at San Antonio Military Medical Center on the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation for mild TBI that will include an imaging study to identify how the brain changes as a result of the treatment (results will be published this year).
A randomized, controlled study of NNZ-2566, a drug that may help to limit inflammation in the brain following injury, to care for adults in the immediate aftermath of a mild TBI.
A 15-year study at four military treatment facilities to learn the long-term effects of TBI on patients, families and caregivers, as well as research on injury characteristics, recovery, blood biomarkers and co-morbidities.
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