Per the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management Of Concussion-Mild Traumatic Brain Injury:

A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a traumatically induced structural injury and/or physiological disruption of brain function as a result of an external force and is indicated by new onset or worsening of at least one of the following clinical signs immediately following the event:

  • Any period of loss of or a decreased level of consciousness
  • Any loss of memory for events immediately before or after the injury (posttraumatic amnesia)
  • Any alteration in mental state at the time of the injury (e.g., confusion, disorientation, slowed thinking, alteration of consciousness/mental state)
  • Neurological deficits (e.g., weakness, loss of balance, change in vision, praxis, paresis/plegia,sensory loss, aphasia) that may or may not be transient
  • Intracranial lesion

The severity of TBI is determined at the time of injury, and a disability examination evaluates the current functioning, not the diagnosis. Select Severity Classification to learn about classifying TBI severity at the time of diagnosis and what an experienced examiner keeps in mind about this information in a Veteran's or Servicemember's records.

Note

The VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management Of Concussion-Mild Traumatic Brain Injury can be downloaded from the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines website.