Today's war tactics require more specialized patient care than ever. Improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades create devastating injuries, including amputations, sensory loss, and brain injury, while modern body armor and advances in front-line trauma care have enabled combat veterans to survive severe attacks that in prior wars were fatal.
In response to the demand for more specialized services, VA took its four traumatic brain injury centers in Minneapolis, Palo Alto, Richmond, and Tampa, and expanded them into polytrauma centers to treat patients for multiple complex injuries. Plans are to develop a network of 21 polytrauma network sites and polytrauma clinic support teams around the country to provide state-of-the-art treatment closer to injured veterans' homes.
These centers treat traumatic brain injury alone or in combination with amputation, blindness or other visual impairment, complex orthopedic injuries, auditory and vestibular disorders, and mental health concerns. In addition to the treatment of their injuries, polytrauma patients require a full range of clinical expertise, including psychological treatment for both patient and family, intensive case management, and high-tech rehabilitation services.
Our polytrauma care teams are providing the most advanced, personalized treatment possible. Their goal: to help combat-injured patients achieve optimal function and independence for the rest of their lives.
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