Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans of Polish Military Contingents, Psychiatrically Hospitalized with Combat Related Stress Disorders

In order to evaluate the occurrence of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) in participants of military operations outside of Poland suffering from combat-related stress disorders, treatment records of veterans of Polish Military Contingents (PMC) hospitalized in the Department of Psychiatry and Combat Stress (DP&CS) of the Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw were reviewed. During the period of 2006-2010, a total of 144 PMC veterans were hospitalized. Firstly, we excluded from this group: those with confirmed examination and observation of evident brain damage; those whose mental condition made it impossible to obtain a credible anamnesis; those who were serving at posts without direct contact with combat operations during deployment, and those who had received a head injury prior to the deployment or after deployment. Basing on the above-presented criteria, 18 patients have been eliminated from further examinations. Medical records of the remaining 126 were analyzed by means of Brief Traumatic Brain Injury Screen (BTBIS). The analysis conducted showed that 53 (42.1%) out of 126 patients evaluated had, at the deployment, one or more injuries caused by an external force directly related to combat operations. Patients with a positive result of BTBIS (mTBI) made up 20 out of 53 (37.7%) injured veterans. It was stated that mTBI veterans - compared to non-TBI veterans - were diagnosed with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) more often (60% vs 34.9%), with prevailing symptoms of increased arousal (30% vs. 4.7%), disorder was persistent, rehospitalization was necessary, (30.0% vs 4.7%) and usage of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) (75% vs 56%) mood stabilizers was required (40.0% vs 27.4%).