Matt Ortega

USA Today reports that as many as 20,000 brain injuries sustained in Iraq but not discovered until the soldier’s return were left off the official wounded tabulation.

At least 20,000 U.S. troops who were not classified as wounded during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan have been found with signs of brain injuries, according to military and veterans records compiled by USA TODAY.

The data, provided by the Army, Navy and Department of Veterans Affairs, show that about five times as many troops sustained brain trauma as the 4,471 officially listed by the Pentagon through Sept. 30. These cases also are not reflected in the Pentagon’s official tally of wounded, which stands at 30,327.

The figure, apparently, should read 24,471 brain injuries sustained and 50,327 total wounded.

Soldiers and Marines whose wounds were discovered after they left Iraq are not added to the official casualty list, says Army Col. Robert Labutta, a neurologist and brain injury consultant for the Pentagon.

“We are working to do a better job of reflecting accurate data in the official casualty table,” Labutta says.

Support groups fighting to provide the necessary, and earned in sacrifice, medical attention for returning U.S. soldiers, like the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). Read more on traumatic brain injury here.