'They seemed fine': Troops who suffered brain injuries in Iran missile attacks initially had no symptoms, sources say

Several troops injured in an Iranian rocket attack earlier this month initially seemed healthy after suffering brain injuries, a military source told the Washington Examiner on Friday. "They seemed fine at first," the source said.

No U.S. casualties initially were reported after Iranian strikes that targeted two bases in Iraq with 15 missiles. Defense Department leaders learned of the injuries on Thursday, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah, who added that traumatic brain injuries are not always immediately apparent.

"A number of service members were given routine examinations for concussions. The vast majority showed no sign of concussive injury and returned to duty," Farah said in a statement on Friday. "However, some displayed concussion-like symptoms days after the attacks and reported them to their chain of command."

Three of the injured service members were sent to Kuwait for further evaluation, while the remaining eight were sent to Landstuhl, Germany, for MRI examinations. 

"There are a range of traumatic brain injuries from mild to severe ... there's a lot of variety in the symptoms," Carrie Farmer, a senior military and veteran health policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, told the Washington Examiner.

Some of these symptoms take some time to develop, which is why the military has developed a screening process to catch TBI's as soon as possible.

"There's initial testing and then follow up testing conducted as a matter of course after an event like this. It's not like external wounds," James Hasson, an Afghanistan War veteran, wrote in a Twitter post on Thursday.

"Over the last decade or two, there's been a huge progression in assessing TBI," Farmer said — a major change from past decades when brain injuries were not taken as seriously. Dramatic increases in understanding how the human brain works have played an important factor."

Most people will fully recover from a mild TBI like a concussion in seven to 10 days, according to Farmer, although some have longer-lasting problems. For example, two troops with similar TBIs may not recover in similar manners, especially if one of them suffered a previous TBI.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/they-seemed-fine-troops-who-suffered-brain-injuries-in-iran-missile-attacks-initially-had-no-symptoms-sources-say