Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important cause of human mortality and morbidity, which can induce serious neurological damage. At present, clinical treatments for neurological dysfunction after TBI include hyperbaric oxygen, brain stimulation and behavioral therapy, but the therapeutic effect is not satisfactory. Recent studies have found that exogenous stem cells can migrate to damaged brain tissue, then participate in the repair of damaged brain tissue by further differentiation to replace damaged cells, while releasing anti-inflammatory factors and growth factors, thereby significantly improving neurological function. This article will mainly review the effects, deficiencies and related mechanisms of different types of stem cells in TBI.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common and frequently occurring disease. According to the World Health Organization, TBI will become the main cause of human mortality and morbidity after 2020, which brings a heavy economic burden to patients and families (Maas et al., 2017). TBI is a disease which causes the destruction of normal brain function, and leads to serious physical, cognitive and emotional disorders. The pathophysiology of TBI mainly includes the break of the blood brain barrier (BBB), extensive neuroinflammation, diffuse axonal injury, and neurodegenerative lesions (Xiong et al., 2008). The pathological changes of brain injury are mainly the loss of normal tissue structure, destruction of neuronal cells and internal environment disturbance, among which neuronal cells injury is the key point. There is no effective drug treatment so far.