Is it possible to avoid postoperative haematoma as a complication of intracranial surgery?

ABSTRACT

Postoperative intracranial haematoma is a serious complication of intracranial surgery with a mortality rate of around 30%. There have been reports implicating abrupt rises of blood pressure during the last stages or immediately after the procedure, in the production of the clot. This prospective study examined this hypothesis. Over 2[1/2] A years 100 consecutive patients underwent craniotomy [in the Neurosurgical Departement of Zagazig University Hospitals].Under a strict anaethesiological protocol based on deep opioid analgesia which virtually elimenated any acute elevations of the arterial pressure during and immediately after craniotomy. Emergence from anaesthesia was delayed for an average 1[1/2]-2h following the procedure. Postoperative CT was obtained in every patients. There have been no cases of postoperative clot formation in this series of patients. The result of the study suggest that postoperative haematoma is probably an avoidable complication of intracranial surgery