• George Fotakopoulos, Eleni Tsianaka, Giannis Siasios, Konstantinos Vagkopoulos, and Kostas Fountas.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Thesaly, Larissa, Thesaly, Greece.
• J Neurol Surg A Cent Eur Neurosurg. 2016 Mar 1; 77 (2): 88-92.

ObjectiveSevere traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) occur frequently. In some of these patients decompressive craniectomy (DC) must be performed. Posttraumatic hydrocephalus (PTH) can develop after TBI further damaging the brain. DC is considered to be one of the causes of PTH. This study defines the incidence of PTH in TBI patients who underwent DC and tries to determine associated factors.Materials And MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study (2009-2013) that included 126 patients with severe TBI and DC. The collected data were demographics, the craniectomy size, the presence or absence of hydrocephalus, the need for changing the opening pressure of the valve of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt or replacing all or parts of the CSF shunt, and the interval between cranioplasty and shunt placement. We excluded patients with additional intraventricular hemorrhage and those with bilateral or bifrontal DC.ResultsTen of the 126 patients (7.9%) developed PTH and were treated with a CSF shunt. There was no statistical correlation between development of PTH and age or sex, but a statistically significant correlation between development of PTH and the size of DC.ConclusionOur study suggests that PTH development is multifactorial and shows that PTH is not that rare. We showed a correlation between craniectomy size and the incidence of PTH.Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

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