RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW

NAME:  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	CASE:  PD-2015-02041
BRANCH OF SERVICE:  Navy	SEPARATION DATE:  20090417

SUMMARY OF CASE:  Data extracted from the available evidence of record reflects that this covered individual (CI) was an active duty E3, Navy Seaman, medically separated for “right groin pain” with a disability rating of 10%.

CI CONTENTION:  Current condition supports a higher rating.  The complete submission is at Exhibit A.

SCOPE OF REVIEW:  The panel’s scope of review is defined in DoDI 6040.44.  It is limited to review of disability ratings assigned to those conditions determined by the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) to be unfitting for continued military service and when specifically requested by the CI, those conditions identified by the PEB, but determined to be not unfitting or non-compensable.  Any conditions outside the panel’s defined scope of review and any contention not requested in this application may remain eligible for future consideration by the Board for Correction of Military Records.  Furthermore, the panel’s authority is limited to assessing the fairness and accuracy of PEB rating determinations and recommending corrections, where appropriate.  The panel’s assessment of the PEB rating determination is based on review of medical records and all available evidence for application of the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) standards to the unfitting medical condition at the time of separation.  The panel has neither the role nor the authority to compensate for progression or complications of service-connected conditions after separation.  That role and authority is granted by Congress to the Department of Veterans Affairs, operating under a different set of laws.  The panel gives consideration to VA evidence, particularly within 12 months of separation, but only to the extent that it reasonably reflects the severity of the disability at the time of separation.

RATING COMPARISON:

SERVICE PEB - 20090227	VARD - 20090519	
Condition	Code	Rating	Condition	Code	Rating	Exam	
Right Groin Pain	8630	10%	Residuals, Right Inguinal Hernia Repair	7338	NSC	20090508	
COMBINED RATING:  10%	COMBINED RATING OF ALL VA CONDITIONS:  NA	

ANALYSIS SUMMARY:

Right Groin Pain.  According to the service treatment record (STR) and the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) narrative summary (NARSUM), the CI received a right inguinal hernia repair in December 2007.  Despite treatment the groin pain could not be adequately rehabilitated to meet the physical requirements of the CI’s military specialty.  The 29 October 2008 MEB NARSUM examination, 4 months prior to separation, the CI reported persistent-disabling right groin pain.  Physical examination showed an abdomen which was soft and non-tender with normoactive bowel sounds.  There was no mass and no organomegaly.  There was a well healed right groin incision (scar) with no recurrent hernia noted.  There was no tenderness to palpation.  CT scans in the post-operative period revealed no recurrent hernia, no intra-abdominal pathology, and normal post-operative scarring after hernia repair.
At the 8 May 2009 VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) evaluation, 1 month after separation, the CI reported intermittently right groin pain occurring once a week to once a day, lasting 5 to 6 minutes, which required him to quit what he was doing at that time.  Genitourinary examination was normal.  There was a horizontal right groin 6 cm X 1 cm scar from the right inguinal hernia repair which was non-tender.  Clinically there was no neuro groin deficit around scar.

The panel directed attention to its rating recommendation based on the above evidence.  The PEB rated the right groin condition 10%, coded 8630 (neuritis).  The VA did not service-connect the condition, coded 7338 (hernia, inguinal), citing no permanent residual or chronic disability demonstrated by evidence following service.

The panel agreed that code 7338 was no longer applicable in this case as the STR and VA evidence documented the CI without an inguinal herniation.  Panel members agreed that a neurological coding was appropriate.  The persistent symptomatology correlated closer to VASRD code 8730 (neuralgia) versus the PEB code of 8730 (neuritis).  The VASRD §4.124a states, “Neuralgia, cranial or peripheral, characterized usually by a dull and intermittent pain, of typical distribution so as to identify the nerve, is to be rated on the same scale, with a maximum equal to moderate incomplete paralysis.”  Panel members acknowledged that the maximum rating level available for this specific code is 10% “complete paralysis”, which is of no additional benefit to the CI’s current 10% PEB rating.  The panel also considered the surgical scar, which STR and VA evidence documented as stable and non-tender (painful); therefore, not ratable under VASRD code 7804 (scars, unstable or painful).  After due deliberation, considering all of the evidence and mindful of VASRD §4.3 (reasonable doubt), the panel concluded that there was insufficient cause to recommend a change in the PEB adjudication for the right groin pain condition.

BOARD FINDINGS:  In the matter of the right groin pain condition and IAW VASRD §4.71a, the panel unanimously recommends no change in the PEB adjudication.  There are no other conditions within the panel’s scope of review for consideration.  The panel, therefore, recommends no modification or re-characterization of the CI’s disability and separation determination.

The following documentary evidence was considered:

Exhibit A.  DD Form 294, dated 20150703, w/attachments
Exhibit B.  Service Treatment Record
Exhibit C.  Department of Veterans Affairs Treatment Record 

MEMORANDUM FOR DIRECTOR, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY COUNCIL OF REVIEW
               BOARDS 

Subj:  PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW (PDBR) RECOMMENDATIONS
 
Ref:   (a) DoDI 6040.44

      In accordance with reference (a), I have reviewed the cases listed below and approve the recommendations of the PDBR that the following individual’s records not be corrected to reflect a change in either characterization of separation or in the disability rating previously assigned by the Department of the Navy’s Physical Evaluation Board:

		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USMC
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USMC
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USMC
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USN
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USMC
		- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, former USMC

		
							XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
	     				Principal Deputy, Assistant 
						Secretary of the Navy
						(Manpower and Reserve Affairs)
						Performing the Duties of the 
						Assistant Secretary of the Navy
						              (Manpower and Reserve Affairs)