Objective: To analyze the mechanism of diffuse axonal injury (DAI) and study the relationship between DAI and brain concussion, brain contusion, and primary brain stem injury.Methods: The clinical data and iconographic characteristics of 56 patients with DAI were analyzed retrospectively.Results: Traffic accidents were the main cause of DAI. Among the 56 cases, 34 were injured for at least twice, and 71.43％ of the patients were complicated with contusion.Conclusions: It is considered that DAI is a common pattern of primary brain injury, which is often underestimated. And DAI includes cerebral concussion and primary brain injury, and is often complicated by cerebral cortex contusion. Therefore, it is very simple and practical to divide primary brain injuries into local and diffuse injuries.