Table 2.

Criteria for the inclusion/exclusion of studies

Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
1. Published in peer-viewed journal	1. Non-published studies and dissertations
2. Was published in English or Chinese	2. No control group
3. TCMCR was administered orally	3. TCMCR administered in other methods (e.g. Intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, etc.)
4. Experimental TBI was induced in rodents	5. Examined other types of animals (e.g. sheep, cat, dog etc.)
5. Had a TBI treatment group that was treated with TCMCR and TBI control group that was administered a placebo following injury	6. Administration of traditional Chinese injection or a single Chinese herb in the treatment group
6. Investigators employed weight-drop methods to induce brain trauma	7. Involved non-impact (e.g. cortical ablation) or penetrating TBI. (e.g. missile-induced TBI)
	8. Duplicate publications