Decompressive Craniectomy for Traumatic Brain Injury: The Role of Cranioplasty and Hydrocephalus on Outcome

After severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) associated with uncontrollable high intracranial pressure (ICP), today the main challenge for neurosurgeons remains to identify who may obtain benefit from decompressive craniectomy (DC) and which factors after DC influence the prognosis of these patients. The aim of this paper was to identify the pre- and postoperative determinants of outcome after DC. This retrospective study included all patients undergoing DC for sTBI from 2003 to 2011. The 6-month outcome, assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), was dichotomized into favorable (GOS scores 4 and 5) and unfavorable (GOS scores 1–3) outcome. Predictors of outcome were identified by uni- and multivariate analysis. There were 190 patients who underwent DC for sTBI in this study. Sixty patients (31.6%) died within 30 days after DC. Independent prognostic factors for survival after 30 days were Glasgow Coma Scale score at admission greater than 5 (P = 0.002) and bilateral pupil reactivity (P < 0.0001). Thirty days after DC, 67 patients (51.5%) out of 130 had unfavorable outcome (GOS scores 1–3) and 63 patients (49.5%) presented favorable outcome (GOS scores 4 and 5). The independent preoperative prognostic factors for poor outcome were age over 65 years (P < 0.0001) and bilateral absence of pupil reactivity (P = 0.0165). After DC, onset of postoperative hydrocephalus and delayed cranioplasty (3 months after DC) was associated with unfavorable outcome at multivariate analysis (P = 0.002 and P < 0.0001, respectively). In our study, the development of hydrocephalus after DC for sTBI and delayed cranial reconstruction were associated with unfavorable outcome.