While transferring battle-injured service members to hospitals by way of air evacuation is the fastest way to get patients out of the field, a study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine recently found that this method may cause more damage to those patients suffering from traumatic brain injury.
The Air Force-funded study — performed on rats — proved the inflammation of the brain that typically occurs after a head injury was worsened by pressure changes, which typically occur in flight.
Alan Faden, the University of Maryland anesthesiology professor who led the study said, “What we found is that they were materially worse at the end.”