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Seventy-one deployed U.S. Army soldiers who presented for concussion care due to either blast or blunt mechanisms within 72 h of injury were assessed using the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation, the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM), traditional neuropsychological tests, and health status questionnaires. Follow-up ANAM testing was performed 10 d after initial testing (±5 d). Twenty-one soldiers were excluded: two for poor effort and 19 who had combined blast/blunt injuries. Of the remaining 50 male participants, 34 had blast injuries and 16 had blunt injuries. There were no statistically significant differences between blast injury and blunt injury participants in demographic, physical, or psychological health factors, concussive symptoms, or automated and traditional neurocognitive testing scores within 72 h post-injury. In addition, follow-up ANAM scores up to 15 d post-injury were not significantly different (available on 21 blast-injured and 13 blunt-injured subjects). Pre-injury baseline ANAM scores were compared where available, and revealed no statistically significant differences between 22 blast injury and eight blunt injury participants. These findings suggest there are no significant differences between mechanisms of injury during both the acute and subacute periods in neurobehavioral concussion sequelae while deployed in a combat environment. The current study supports the use of sports/mechanical concussion models for early concussion management in the deployed setting and exploration of variability in potential long-term outcomes.

Unlabelled: With neurocognitive testing being heavily relied on for concussion assessments in the U.S. Warfighter, there is a need to investigate the impact of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning., Objectives: To determine if a nonconcussive injury may have a negative effect on neurocognitive functioning in a deployment setting., Methods: The current study compared scores on computerized and traditional neurocognitive tests of 166 Soldiers deployed to Iraq. Performance on a battery of tests was compared between a group of healthy deployed Soldiers (n = 102) versus a group of deployed Soldiers seeking outpatient care for mild injuries not involving the head or blast exposure (n = 62)., Results: The injured group's performance was not significantly lower on any of the measures administered compared to healthy Soldiers., Conclusions: The results suggest that there was no significant effect of nonconcussive injury on neurocognitive functioning. Findings lend support to feasibility of using neurocognitive tests to evaluate the effects of concussion in theater.

The diagnosis and management of concussion can be difficult in a combat environment, especially in the absence of loss of consciousness or post-traumatic amnesia. As no validated test exists to diagnose or grade neurocognitive impairment from a concussion, the military currently employs the Military Acute Concussion Evaluation (MACE) in Iraq. This is a two-part test, which incorporates the standardized assessment of concussion (SAC) as its objective score, although it has not been shown to be valid unless administered shortly after injury. A research team deployed to Iraq between January and April 2009 to examine the validity of several tests of neurocognitive function following a concussion, including the MACE. When administered more than 12 hours after the concussive injury, the MACE lacked sufficient sensitivity and specificity to be clinically useful.