The unsolvable problem of traumatic brain injury (or how to stop wasting money in fruitless research)

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a major clinical and scientific challenge, as its significant impact on its victims is not hampered by proper and effective clinical and therapeutic protocols able to target intrinsic pathophysiological mechanisms of short and long-term damage. Methods: A review of the basic principles underlying TBI and ongoing research, as well as its intrinsic flaws and insurmountable obstacles, is followed by the outline of a more comprehensive approach based on modern systems theory principles. Results: New and counter-intuitive paradigms emerge from this approach, displaying advantages in the long-term when designing research protocols and hopefully reinforcing the potential impact on real clinical situations. Conclusion: As doubts are increasingly raised about classical research protocols and overall reasoning, innovative, comprehensive, realistic approaches should ideally be based on a systems Theory setting, in which the brain is dealt with as a complex, integrated organ/system.