• Dushan Thavarajah, Patricia De Lacy, Ahmed Hussien, and Adrian Sugar.
• Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Whipps Cross University Hospital, Whipps Cross Road, Leytonstone, London. dushanthavarajah@yahoo.com
• Br J Neurosurg. 2012 Feb 1;26(1):78-80.

ObjectiveCranioplasty is carried out for cosmesis, protection and also for neurological improvement following cranial defect. Infection post cranioplasty is problematic. We look at the outcome from 10 years of cranioplasty patients, and aim to see if there is a correlation between infection and time to insertion of cranial plate.MethodsA retrospective case series identifying all cranioplasty patients between 1998-2008 using the maxillofacial laboratory data log of all plates that were made during this time. Data was yielded from the clinical case notes and the microbiology database. The outcome measure was infection defined as removal of cranioplasty plate.ResultsTotal cranioplasties performed = 82. Infected cranioplasties = 9 (7 titanium 2 acrylic). An 11% infection rate of cranioplasties. Craniectomy due to trauma, with cranioplasty occurring between 0 to 6 months had the greatest number of infective cases, with 8 out of 9 occuring in this period (p value = 0.0076).ConclusionCranioplasty carried out at a minimum of 6 months post craniectomy limits the risk of infection.

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