The works of Hippocrates, Celsus and Galen are taken as information sources for a proposed approach to the treatment of traumatic brain injury. All three authors point to changes in the level of consciousness in cases of traumatic brain injury. According to modern concepts, the classifi cation of fractures proposed by Hippocrates is somewhat unusual. He spoke of hedra and bruises and noted that the latter may not be identifi ed under examination. This view has nowadays been rejected