Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Delineating the Progression and Underlying Mechanisms Following Blast Traumatic Brain Injury.

Abstract

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a devastating condition that can develop after blast Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Ongoing work has been performed to understand how PTSD develops after injury. In this review, we highlight how PTSD affects individuals, discuss what is known about the physiologic changes to the hypothalamic pituitary axis and neurotransmitter pathways, and present an overview of genetic components that may predispose individuals to developing PTSD. We then provide an overview of current treatment strategies to treat PTSD in veterans and present new strategies that may be useful going forward. The need for further clinical and pre-clinical studies is imperative to improve diagnosis, treatment, and management for patients that develop PTSD following blast TBI.