• Satoru Shimizu, Shigeta Miyake, Takahiro Mochizuki, Hiroyuki Koizumi, Tomoko Sekiguchi, Hiroki Kuroda, Yasunobu Nakai, and Toshihiro Kumabe.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Yokohama Brain and Spine Center, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Electronic address: Satoru4756@aol.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2023 Apr 1; 172: 585-8.

BackgroundAt craniotomy, the dura shrinks due to the drying effect of illumination and air exposure, rendering its primary closure difficult. When the opening is narrow, it can be patched with autologous grafts. However, tissue harvesting and meticulous suturing take time. As the cost-effectiveness of using dural substitutes is poor, we developed a new technique that involves dural scratching for the primary closure of dural openings.MethodsWe applied our technique because in 53 adults who underwent supratentorial craniotomy we encountered difficulties with the primary closure of a dural opening 5 mm or less in width. With a scalpel, we placed several fine scratches parallel to the edge of the opening on the surface of the dura, taking care not to perforate the deep layer. This relieved dural tension and the tissue was stretched enough to permit closing with sutures.ResultsOur technique achieved primary dural closure in 46 of 53 patients (87%) who primarily had undergone narrow supratentorial craniotomies. The other 7 additionally required small autologous grafts to patch narrow residual openings at the intersection of the durotomy. There were no procedure-related complications such as cerebrospinal fluid leakage and persistent headache due to tension of the closed dura.ConclusionsDural scratching is simple, safe, requires no special instrumentation, facilitates primary closure of the shrunken dura by stretching, and reduces the need for patch grafting.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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