Improvised Explosive Devices and the Aftermath

Improvised Explosive Devices and the Aftermath: Proper Diagnosis Needed to Prevent Further Damages
by Johnny Waltz, Iraq War Veterans Organization 

Left, a helmet after an IED explosion.

On the modern battlefield, you will find many new technologies to save lives and reduce injuries. This is good in many ways but it also creates catastrophic injuries for our soldiers that need to be diagnosed properly.  

In the war in Iraq Improvised Explosive Devices or better known as IEDs is the weapon of choice for insurgents and widely used against our soldiers. The IEDs can cause blast injuries that have the ability to cause compounded catastrophic injuries…  

These types of explosions can create distinctive injuries to a vast amount of the body’s organs and the central nervous system. According to Eric Lavonas, M.D. and Andre Pennardt, M.D., blast injuries can be divided into four separate categories: primary blast injury (organ and tissue damage caused solely by the blast wave), secondary (caused by flying objects striking individuals), tertiary (caused by individuals flying through the air), and miscellaneous (caused by burns, injury from falling objects, toxic dust, gas, or radiation exposure). 

SSG Dennis Griffee, US Army (Ret.), knows all too well the effects of an IED blast. During his tour in Iraq in an IED attack and suffered from shrapnel wounds and nerve damage.

During his treatment at the Denver Veteran Affairs Medical Center Griffee underwent an MRI testing on his brain and spine looking for the root of the nerve problems he suffers from. His doctor found damage in the spinal cord, which were typically associated with blast injuries.

The explanation of the damage SSG Griffee suffered from, his doctor said that the blast caused the spine to stretch and created a spinal scar. This was called a “classic blast injury,” but according to the Iraq War Veterans Organization, it should be called a cerebro-spinal concussive blast injury (CCBI). These types of injuries are rare but there is surely a large amount of undiscovered cases because the proper testing is not being done. This is leaving soldiers and veterans suffering from nerve damage and a multitude of complications without treatment.  

If you or anyone you know has suffered a casualty from an IED that suffers from chronic back, leg or arm pain should demand an MRI. According to SSG Griffee if CCBIs are found early enough, treatment can start before permanent nerve damage occurs.   

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