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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 8045
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is harm to the brain caused by an outside force, like a blast, fall, or blow to the head. The VA looks at three main areas of trouble that a TBI can cause: thinking problems (called cognitive impairment, such as trouble with memory, attention, and decision-making), emotional or behavioral problems, and physical problems. Because these problems are so different from person to person, the VA may rate each area separately and then combine them.
The VA rates TBI residuals under 38 CFR 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8045. Thinking problems and "subjective" symptoms that are not given their own separate diagnosis are scored using a special table of 10 "facets," with each facet rated from 0 up to a top level called "total." The percent rating is set by the single highest facet: a level of 0 = 0%, 1 = 10%, 2 = 40%, and 3 = 70%, while a "total" on even one facet means a 100% rating. Some residuals are handled differently: emotional or behavioral problems that meet the rules for a mental disorder are rated under the mental-disorders schedule (38 CFR 4.130), and physical residuals with their own clear diagnosis—like migraine headaches, seizures, or hearing loss—are rated under their own diagnostic codes and combined, as long as the same symptom is not counted twice.
There is also a helpful pathway for conditions that come after a TBI. Under 38 CFR 3.310(d), if a veteran has a service-connected TBI, certain later illnesses are treated as caused by that TBI unless there is clear evidence otherwise. These include Parkinsonism (such as Parkinson's disease) and unprovoked seizures after a moderate or severe TBI; certain dementias (Alzheimer-type presenile dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and dementia with Lewy bodies) if they appear within 15 years of a moderate or severe TBI; depression if it appears within 3 years of a moderate or severe TBI or within 12 months of a mild TBI; and certain hormone-deficiency diseases within 12 months of a moderate or severe TBI. Even if these time limits or severity levels are not met, the VA may still review the claim under its general service-connection rules.
This is educational information about how the VA's rules generally work—it is not legal advice or a VA decision about any individual claim.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 14,659 Board decisions mentioning Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are whole-decision outcomes, not condition-specific success rates or a prediction of your case.
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These are decision-level labels in granted or partly granted decisions mentioning Traumatic brain injury (TBI). They do not establish which theory succeeded for this condition.
In appeals where Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
A decision may address several conditions. Its overall outcome or exposure tags do not establish what happened to each individual claim. Verify the specific issue against the original Board decision.
Browse decisions mentioning Traumatic brain injury (TBI) →Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
Coverage is incomplete and may lag publication. A year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often look at outcomes for these too:
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