Decompressive craniotomy for the early treatment of traumatic intracranial hypertension

Abstract

There is no clear role for decompressive craniotomy (DC) for the intracranial hypertension (ICH) treatment in the literature. Actually, there is a lack of class I or II published data for DC, so it is recomended as a second tier option for the refractory ICH. Recent studies has analized the role of early DC for pos traumatic ICH. The present study analizes 21 patients who has received the early DC for the treatment of traumatic ICH. The majority of the patients had Glasgow Coma Scale < 9 and harboring a brain swelling or acute subdural hematoma at cranial computadorized tomography. Hydrocephalus was frequent after DC (28.5%). Good results were obtained in 11 patients (52.5%). We favour the early application of DC for pos traumatic hypertension.