Modified Burr-Hole Craniostomy for the Treatment of Chronic Subdural Hematoma in Adults.

Abstract

Burr-hole craniostomy (BHC) is considered to be the most effective method for the treatment of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH), and middle meningeal artery embolization is a new therapy used in clinical practice in recent years to treat CSDH. However, the optimal therapeutic effect of these 2 procedures is still controversial. This study prospectively designed a modified burr-hole craniostomy (mBHC) with drainage to treat CSDH. A total of 101 patients diagnosed with CSDH from January 2019 to April 2020 were prospectively included in this study. They were divided into BHC and mBHC groups. Among them, 40 selected CSDH patients received mBHC treatment. For comparison, 61 CSDH patients who received BHC treatment were used as the control group. Primary outcomes were hematoma recurrence and postoperative complications. Secondary outcomes included midline recovery, hematoma clearance, operation time, and hospital stay. The Chi-square test was used to compare the 6-month follow-up results between the 2 groups. Among patients treated with mBHC, 39 patients had a good prognosis, and one 87-year-old patient with bilateral hematoma died of postoperative heart failure. Of the patients treated with BHC, 52 patients had good prognoses, and one 53-year-old patient with unilateral hematoma died of postoperative acute intracranial bleeding. During the 6-month follow-up period, no relapse occurred in the patients treated with mBHC, whereas 8 (13%) of the patients treated with BHC relapsed. There was a significant difference in the recurrence rate between the 2 groups (P < 0.05). In addition, midline recovery, hematoma clearance rate, operation time, and complications were found to be significantly different statistically (P < 0.05), and other characteristics of operation and outcome were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the 2 groups. Modified burr-hole craniostomy has a positive therapeutic effect on patients with CSDH and is more effective than conventional BHC therapy.