Assessment of drainage techniques for evacuation of chronic subdural hematoma

J Neurosurg 133:1113–1119, 2017

Surgery for chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) is one of the most common neurosurgical procedures. The benefit of postoperative passive subdural drainage compared with no drains has been established, but other drainage techniques are common, and their effectiveness compared with passive subdural drains remains unknown.

METHODS In Scandinavian population-based cohorts the authors conducted a consecutive, parallel cohort study to compare different drainage techniques. The techniques used were continuous irrigation and drainage (CID cohort, n = 166), passive subdural drainage (PD cohort, n = 330), and active subgaleal drainage (AD cohort, n = 764). The primary end point was recurrence in need of reoperation within 6 months of index surgery. Secondary end points were complications, perioperative mortality, and overall survival. The analyses were based on direct regional comparison (i.e., surgical strategy).

RESULTS Recurrence in need of surgery was observed in 18 patients (10.8%) in the CID cohort, in 66 patients (20.0%) in the PD cohort, and in 85 patients (11.1%) in the AD cohort (p < 0.001). Complications were more common in the CID cohort (14.5%) compared with the PD (7.3%) and AD (8.1%) cohorts (p = 0.019). Perioperative mortality rates were similar between cohorts (p = 0.621). There were some differences in baseline and treatment characteristics possibly interfering with the above-mentioned results. However, after adjusting for differences in baseline and treatment characteristics in a regression model, the drainage techniques were still significantly associated with clinical outcome (p < 0.001 for recurrence, p = 0.017 for complications).

CONCLUSIONS Compared with the AD cohort, more recurrences were observed in the PD cohort and more complications in the CID cohort, also after adjustment for differences at baseline. Although the authors cannot exclude unmeasured confounding factors when comparing centers, AD appears superior to the more common PD.

Subperiosteal versus subdural drainage after burr hole evacuation of chronic subdural hematoma: systematic review and meta-analysis

Acta Neurochirurgica (2020) 162:489–498

The evidence for subperiosteal drainage (SPD) versus subdural drainage (SDD) in chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) remains controversial, and most surgeons prefer to use SDD over SPD.We aimto assess the latest evidence on the use of SPD compared to SDD in patients with CSDH undergoing burr hole evacuation.

Methods We performed a systematic literature search on topics that assesses the use of SPD compared to SDD in patients with CSDH up until November 2019 from PubMed, EuropePMC, Cochrane Central Database, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and ClinicalTrials.gov. The primary outcome was recurrent CSDH, and the secondary outcomes were mortality, surgical morbidities, and modified Rankin Score (mRS).

Results There were a total of 3241 subjects from 10 studies. SPD was shown to reduce recurrent CSDH (OR 0.66 [0.52, 0.84], p < 0.001; I2: 17%, p = 0.30) compared to SDD. Recurrent CSDH was lower in SPD group in subgroup analysis at 3-months (OR 0.63 [0.49, 0.81]; I2: 68%, p = 0.04) and 6-months (OR 0.66 [0.51, 0.85], p = 0.001; I2: 77%, p = 0.01) follow-up. However, there was no difference in CSDH recurrence upon subgroup analysis of RCTs. Similar mortality was demonstrated between SPD and SDD group (p = 0.13). The occurrence of parenchymal injury/new neurological deficit was significantly lower in SPD group (OR 0.26 [0.14, 0.51], p < 0.001; I2: 49%, p = 0.08). The rate of seizure, (p = 0.57), postoperative bleeding (p = 0.29), and infection (p = 0.25) were shown to be similar in both SPD and SDD group. Overall, the rate of surgical morbidity was significantly lower in SPD group (OR 0.61 [0.44, 0.85], p = 0.003; I2: 16%, p = 0.25). mRS at the end of follow-up was similar in SPD and SDD group (p = 0.12).

Conclusion SPD was associated with less CSDH recurrence, but similar rate of mortality, seizures, postoperative bleeding, and infections compared to SDD. The rate of parenchymal injury/new neurological deficit was lower in the SPD group.

Cystic Craniopharyngiomas: Microsurgical or Stereotactic Treatment?

Neurosurgery (2017) 80 (5): 733-743

Prognosis and treatment of cystic craniopharyngiomas are poorly defined.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze progression-free survival (PFS) and safety profile of cystic craniopharyngiomas undergoing resection or minimally invasive drainage procedures. We compared further outcome measurements for cystic and solid tumors undergoing resection to elucidate the impact of the initial tumor composition on both PFS and the toxicity profile.

METHODS: All patients with craniopharyngiomas consecutively treated between 1999 and 2014 were included. A treatment decision in favor of microsurgery or stereotactic treatment was made interdisciplinarily. For stereotactic drainage, a catheter was implanted, allowing both permanent upstream (into ventricular spaces) and downstream (into prepontine cistern) drainage. Study endpoints were tumor progression, functional outcome, and treatment toxicity. Functional endocrinological and visual outcome analyses referred to data obtained preoperatively and 6 weeks after treatment. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis. Prognostic factors were obtained from proportional hazard models.

RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients were included. The distribution of clinical and tumor-related data was well balanced among patients with solid (n = 35) and cystic (n = 44) tumors and those undergoing microsurgical or stereotactic treatment. Cystic tumors had shorter PFS (5-year PFS: 53.6% vs 66.8%, P= .10) and needed significantly more therapeutic interventions, which was independent of the initial treatment mode. The endocrinological deterioration rate was high for both solid and cystic tumors after microsurgery (59.4% and 85.7%, respectively), whereas it was significantly lower for cystic tumors undergoing stereotactic treatment (23.1%, P < .001).

CONCLUSION: Stereotactic bidirectional drainage of cystic craniopharyngiomas is effective and provides a better endocrinological outcome than conventional microsurgery.