Abstract: Objective To study the disability identification for cases with clinical diagnosis of diffuse axonal injury （DAI） due to traffic accidents, and to explore the possible effects of DAI on identification results. Methods Five hundred and fifty-six cases of cerebral injury due to traffic accidents were collected, including 467 cases diagnosed with cerebral contusion or laceration and 89 cases diagnosed with DAI. The identification results of different groups with diagnosis of DAI diagnosis, diagnosis of DAI with cerebral contusion （laceration）, and diagnosis of cerebral contusion or laceration without DAI were compared and statistically analyzed, based on the results of CT and MRI re-review. Results The disability identification levels in DAI group （20 cases）, DAI group （69 cases） with cerebral contusion （laceration） and DAI group （467 cases） not complicated by cerebral contusion （laceration） were 7.72±1.09, 7.78±1.11, and 8.86±0.66, respectively. The disability levels of the two groups diagnosed with DAI were higher than those of the group without DAI diagnosis （P<0.05）. Conclusion Patients with DAI diagnosis might have more severe cerebral injury. In the identification process, one should pay attention to the possible missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and meanwhile avoid relying on those evidences provided only by CT and MRI.

Key words: forensic medicine, diffuse axonal injury, accidents, traffic, disability grade