Effects of Atorvastatin on Conservative and Surgical Treatments of Chronic Subdural Hematoma in Patients

Abstract

To investigate effects of atorvastatin on conservative and surgical treatment of patients with chronic subdural hematoma. A retrospective analysis was performed of 109 patients (including 3 outpatients) with chronic subdural hematoma at Northern Jiangsu People's Hospital from April 2014 to October 2015. Patients' gender, age, Glasgow Coma Scale score, symptoms, history of antiplatelet or anticoagulant use, hematoma location, volume of hematoma, operation methods, and application of atorvastatin and its duration were recorded. Prognostic indicators including changes in hematoma volume and neurologic status were extracted. Statistical methods were conducted to evaluate drug efficacy. Seven conservative patients received atorvastatin for 1-6 months (range, 3.57 ± 1.72 months). The volume of hematomas was ± 4.49 mL to 11.40 ± 4.46 mL (P > 0.05) after 1 month's atorvastatin treatment. Hematomas disappeared after 6 months in all 7 patients. In surgical patients, gender (P= 0.797), age (P= 0.063), Glasgow Coma Scale score (P= 0.216), history of antiplatelet or anticoagulant (P= 0.350), volume of hematoma after admission (P= 0.896), location (P= 0.282), and operation methods (P= 0.832) were nonsignificantly associated with follow-up groups, but atorvastatin was significantly associated with follow-up results (P= 0.045). Atorvastatin has preliminarily been proved to be safe and effective for chronic subdural hematomas in both conservative and surgical patients and can provide a drug treatment strategy for neurosurgeons.