History of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Abstract

History is of one of the many disciplines that is considered as science, and which allows past events to be studied. This allows us to know about past facts, accompany their evolution, the origin of many concepts and terms, as well as errors and myths, allowing a comprehensive understanding of the present and learning to improve the future.The importance of history is such that it ends up determining the culture of many countries and also frames scientific disciplines. The great advances in knowledge of neurological function and its brain localization began in the nineteenth century. It is only recently that head injuries are classified by their neurological deficit rather than the type of skull fracture. This is not surprising, since most head injuries were treated by general surgeons who knew little about neurological examination. Although the illustrations in the early sixteenth century showed the anisocoria, this condition was not mentioned until three centuries later, when Jonathan Hutchinson first reported a dilated pupil on the same side as an intracranial clot, and pointed out that it was due to the compression of the third cranial nerve.

Head Injury Mechanisms

“…It is due to a crocodile bite about 2,000,000-1,800,000 years BC [1]. On the base of Holy Quran and Genesis, the first death is that of Abel happened by a heavy object struck on head by his brother Cain [2].…”

“…On the base of Holy Quran and Genesis, the first death is that of Abel happened by a heavy object struck on head by his brother Cain [2]. Along the history these lesions have included all kinds of blunt and penetrating injuries to the head, more commonly in occupational activities such as those reported in EdwinSmith papyrus in workers of the Egyptian pyramids [1,3] or conflicts and quarrels as in Goliath and David confrontation or those gladiators managed by Galen [4]. By the development of the human society and increasing speeds particularly in transportation after industrial revolution, new injurious events appeared so that gradually traffic accidents became one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in all parts of the world [2].…”

The birth of neurotrauma: a historical perspective from the Academy of Multidisciplinary Neurotraumatology (AMN)

“…Mentions of TBI appear far back in the story of humanity, starting in myths and legends [ 3 , 4 ]. Before scripts have been documented, archeology has been the main source of information, revealing the first insight into the intricacies of neurotrauma [ 5 ]. Prehistory included three main periods: Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Metal Age, with the ancestors of humankind ( Homo Habilis, Australopithecus, Homo erectus ) as well as Homo sapiens being traced back to the Paleolithic, when most of the head trauma was caused by animals or injuries [ 5 ].…”

“…Before scripts have been documented, archeology has been the main source of information, revealing the first insight into the intricacies of neurotrauma [ 5 ]. Prehistory included three main periods: Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Metal Age, with the ancestors of humankind ( Homo Habilis, Australopithecus, Homo erectus ) as well as Homo sapiens being traced back to the Paleolithic, when most of the head trauma was caused by animals or injuries [ 5 ]. One of the first pieces of evidence of brain injuries in humans was found in Tanzania, where the injury appears to have been caused by a crocodile bite [ 5 ].…”

“…Prehistory included three main periods: Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Metal Age, with the ancestors of humankind ( Homo Habilis, Australopithecus, Homo erectus ) as well as Homo sapiens being traced back to the Paleolithic, when most of the head trauma was caused by animals or injuries [ 5 ]. One of the first pieces of evidence of brain injuries in humans was found in Tanzania, where the injury appears to have been caused by a crocodile bite [ 5 ]. However, the first anthropological signs of TBI treatment are attributed to the Neolithic era [ 5 – 7 ].…”