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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2022; 17(04): 563-567
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1758842
Original Article

Craniotomy or Craniectomy for Acute Subdural Hematoma? Difference in Patient Characteristics and Outcomes at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Saad Bin Anis
1   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
,
Saad Akhtar Khan
1   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
,
Rida Mitha
1   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
,
Muhammad Shahzad Shamim
1   Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan
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Abstract

Objective This article compares the outcomes of patients with traumatic acute subdural hemorrhage (SDH) managed either with craniotomy (CO) or with decompressive craniectomy (DC).

Methods In this single-center, retrospective analysis we included all adult patients with acute traumatic SDH who were treated either using CO or DC. Sixteen-year hospital data was reviewed for patient demographics, injury details, and hospital course. Outcomes were noted in terms of intraoperative blood loss, intensive care unit stay, need for tracheostomy, post-surgery Glasgow Coma Score (GCS; calculated immediately after surgery), delayed GCS (DGCS; calculated 1 week after surgery), and delayed Glasgow Outcome Score (DGOS) after 6 months of surgery. Postoperative complications were noted during hospital stay, while mortality was noted within 6 months of surgery for each patient.

Results Patients who underwent DC were younger (mean age 34.4 ± 16.8 years vs. 42.4 ± 19.9 years in the CO group) (p = 0.006). Patients who underwent DC also had worst degree of traumatic brain injury as per Marshall grade (62.4% patients with Marshall grade 4 in the DC group vs. only 41.2% patients in the CO group) (p = 0.037). Mean size of hematoma was 23.8 ± 24.6 mm in the DC group versus 11.3 ± 8.2 mm in the CO group (p = 0.001). Mean postop GCS was lower in the DC group; 8.0 ± 4 versus 10.8 ± 4 in the CO group (p < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in DGCS and DGOS between the DC and CO groups (p = 0.76 and 0.90, respectively). Mortality rate was 24 (30.8%) in the DC group versus 18 (20.7%) in the CO group (p = 0.14).

Conclusion The patients who underwent DC were younger, had larger size hematoma, and poor Marshall grade. We did not find any significant difference in the outcomes of CO and DC for management of subdural hematoma.

Keywords

subdural hematoma - craniotomy - decompressive craniectomy


Publication History

Article published online:
14 December 2022

© 2022. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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