Subdural Hygroma: Report of 16 Cases of Patients with Head Trauma Who Underwent Surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic subdural hygroma is the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in subdural area after head trauma. The pressure of hygroma on brain can cause loss of consciousness in patient. There are still many obscurities on surgical indications of hygroma. This study focused on patients with traumatic subdural hygroma who underwent surgery within 11 years.

Materials and Methods: In a descriptive (Case-Series) and retrospective study, records of 16 patients who had undergone surgery due to traumatic subdural hygroma were reviewed. ANOVA, Pearson and Spearman's rho were used to analyze the data.

Results: In this study, there were 13 men and 3 women with mean age of 62 years. In 87% of cases, hygroma was diagnosed 6 days after head injury. In most cases (56.3%), it was observed in fronto-parietal area and in 81.3% of cases, it was in one side. The most common accompanying skull injuries were brain contusion (0.25%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (18.8%). The changes in GCS on admission and discharge compared to time of hygroma had a significant difference (P<0.05). 25% of patients had hygroma recurrence after surgery. All patients (except one) had good outcome. The patient’s outcome was associated with the severity of primary head injury (P=0.003). No statistically significant relationship was seen between GCS on admission and GOS at hygroma time (P>0.05).

Conclusion: Subdural hygroma is a delayed complication and surgery treatment improves the consciousness state of patients with this problem.