MILITARY MEDICINE, 181, 11/12:20, 2016
The Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research: Advancing the
Rehabilitative Care for Service Members With Complex Trauma
Brad M. Isaacson, PhD, MBA, MSF*†; Brad D. Hendershot, PhD, CRSR‡§; Seth D. Messinger, PhD*†;
Jason M. Wilken, PT, PhD†∥; Christopher A. Rábago, PT, PhD†§∥;
Elizabeth Russell Esposito, PhD†§∥; Erik Wolf, PhD**; Alison L. Pruziner, DPT†‡§;
Christopher L. Dearth, PhD†‡§; Marilynn Wyatt, PT, MA†¶; COL Steven P. Cohen, MC USA (Ret.)††‡‡;
CAPT Jack W. Tsao, MC USNR§§∥∥; COL Paul F. Pasquina, MC USA (Ret.)†‡
ABSTRACT The Center for Rehabilitation Sciences Research (CRSR) was established to advance the rehabilitative care
for service members with combat-related injuries, particularly those with orthopedic, cognitive, and neurological complica-
tions. The center supports comprehensive research projects to optimize treatment strategies and promote the successful return
to duty and community reintegration of injured service members. The center also provides a unique platform for fostering
innovative research and incorporating clinical/technical advances in the rehabilitative care for service members. CRSR is
composed of four research focus areas: (1) identifying barriers to successful rehabilitation and reintegration, (2) improving
pain management strategies to promote full participation in rehabilitation programs, (3) applying novel technologies to
advance rehabilitation methods and enhance outcome assessments, and (4) transferring new technology to improve functional
capacity, independence, and quality of life. Each of these research focus areas works synergistically to in
fluence the quality
of life for injured service members. The purpose of this overview is to highlight the clinical research efforts of CRSR, namely
how this organization engages a broad group of interdisciplinary investigators from medicine, biology, engineering, anthro-
pology, and physiology to help solve clinically relevant problems for our service members, veterans, and their families.
OVERVIEW
Between 2001 and 2015, there have been approximately 327,000
cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI), 138,000 incidents of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 1,645 service members who
have sustained one or more major extremity amputations while
serving in Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, and New
Dawn.
1
The majority of these severe injuries occurred from the
effects of blasts,
2
most commonly the result of improvised explo-
sive devices and rocket-propelled grenades.
3
Improved trauma care
on the battle
field and throughout the military health care system
(MHS) has resulted in historic survival rates,
3
with service members
now surviving injuries that in previous wars would have been
fatal. Because of the complexity of these wounds and the fre-
quency of multiple, coexisting injuries and impairments, greater
challenges now exist for rehabilitation practices.
3
–6
Battle
field survival is only the first step to recovery after a
war injury. It is the responsibility of the MHS, the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA), and
—arguably—the entire nation to
help service members not only survive after injury but thrive as
well. Recovery from complex wounds is extremely challenging
for patients and families alike. Rehabilitation practices focus on
goal setting and improving function through retraining, adaptive
strategies, or utilizing novel equipment and assistive technology.
The clinics emphasize restoring basic mobility for activities of
daily living (e.g., dressing, bathing, and feeding); encompass cog-
nitive training in order to restore speech and communication; focus
on return to recreational and sports activities; and provide tools for
emotionally reconnecting to one
’s family, friends, and community.
Given the uniqueness of war-related trauma and the desire to see
patients thrive after injury, new rehabilitative methods and tech-
nology that focus on the military population must be explored.
Wounded service members represent a patient cohort that is
relatively young, had high
fitness levels before injury,
2
and is
highly motivated to return to high-demanding activities.
6
Careful
thought and consideration must be given to mitigate the long-
term risks of living with a disability for this population, given
their relatively young age at time of injury. For example, the
incidence rates of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and chronic
pain are signi
ficantly higher in veterans with limb loss than in
*Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Center for
Rehabilitation Sciences Research, Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.
†The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military
Medicine, 6720A Rockledge Drive, no. 100, Bethesda, MD 20817.
‡Department of Rehabilitation, Research and Development Section, Walter
Reed National Military Medical Center, 8901 Rockville Pike, Bethesda,
MD 20889.
§Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence, 2748 Worth
Road, Suite 29, Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
∥Center for the Intrepid, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Brooke
Army Medical Center, 3551 Roger Brooke Drive, Joint Base San Antonio,
Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234.
¶Naval Medical Center San Diego’s Gait Analysis Laboratory, 34800
Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92134.
**U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command Clinical and
Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program, 810 Schreider Street, Fort Detrick,
MD 21702.
††Departments of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore,
MD 21205.
‡‡Departments of Anesthesiology and Physical Medicine & Rehabilita-
tion, Uniformed Services University of theHealth Sciences, 4301 Jones
Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.
§§Department of Neurology, University of Tennessee Health Science
Center, 855 Monroe Avenue, Suite 415, Memphis, TN 38163.
∥∥Memphis Veterans Administration Medical Center, 1030 Jefferson
Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104.
doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00548
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