Introduction: The objective of this study was to clarify whether pneumocephalus occurred and affected the outcome following minimally invasive hematoma aspiration and thrombolysis for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).
Materials and methods: A prospective case note review on all ICH patients treated with the micro-invasive procedure presenting to our division from 2006 to 2011 was conducted. Demographic, clinical, and outcome data were documented; head CT scans were applied postoperatively to identify the intracranial air collection. The ICH victims with pneumocephalus were included into Group A and the others into Group B. A multi-variant analysis was performed between Groups A and B to examine the effect of pneumocephalus on the prognosis.
Results: Data were collected on a total of 134 cases in this study, among whom 72.38% developed pneumocephalus postoperatively. No significant difference was demonstrated in terms of the preoperative and postoperative hematoma volume, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, middle line shift (MLS), and 30-day mortality rate between Groups A and B, respectively. Moreover, the long-term outcome rated by GCS of these two groups was also similar. Logistic regression analysis indicated double-needle puncture be an independent risk factor for both postoperative pneumocephalus (OR, 2.478; 95% CI, 1.010-6.080; P = 0.045) and its degree (OR, 11.84; 95%CI, 4.141-30.208; P < 0.001).
Conclusion: The present study shows that pneumocephalus is common following the minimally invasive hematoma aspiration and thrombolysis for ICH but may not affect the outcome. And double-needle puncture may be the risk factor for pneumocephalus.
Keywords: aspiration; cerebral hemorrhage; complication; pneumocephalus; surgical treatment; thrombolysis.