Neuroendoscopy—a minimally invasive alternative in the surgical management of traumatic intracerebral contusions?

Abstract

In the present issue of Acta Neurochirurgica, Dr. Masaki Mino and co-workers [8] describe the technical details of neuroendoscopy for the evacuation of traumatic intracerebral contusions causing delayed clinical deterioration. The indications for surgery in the 10 patients were (1) development of new neurological symptoms, (2) deterioration of consciousness level by more than two points on the GCS, or (3) increased intracranial pressure (ICP) ≥ 25 mmHg. The present manuscript is interesting since it brings an additional treatment option to a heterogeneous clinical condition for which consensus has not been reached in the neurosurgical community, particularly with regard to moderate-size lesions as well as optimal strategy for elderly patients. Traumatic cerebral contusions represent the most common parenchymal injury following traumatic brain injury (TBI), observed in the vast majority of severe TBI and up to ca 25% of moderate TBI patients. These lesions are most commonly located inferiorly/anteriorly in the frontal and/or temporal lobes and become surrounded by an edema after the first few post-injury days. An increased mass effect is common over the first post-injury days, both from the hemorrhage itself and from the developing edema, and such “blossoming” occurs in up to ca 50% of all contusions [1, 12]. The increased mass effect may then lead to increased ICP, impair cerebral perfusion, and result in subacute clinical deterioration requiring surgical management. Furthermore, although uncommon, delayed traumatic intracerebral hemorrhages have been observed beyond the first post-injury week, even in those with no or minor findings on initial CTscan [3]. The risk factors for clinical deterioration have recently been addressed [1, 12], emphasizing the highly dynamic features of intracerebral contusions. The surgical guidelines published in 2006 [2] recommended that in patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 6–8 with frontal or temporal contusions ≥ 20 mL and a midline shift ≥ 5mmand/or cisternal compression onCT, orwith any lesion≥ 50 mL, neurosurgical contusionectomy and decompression via craniotomy are warranted. Using standard neurosurgical techniques, the blood clots and adjacent contused brain tissue are removed to achieve sufficient decompression. Thus, when clinical deterioration or refractory intracranial hypertension is attributed to the contusion, or when the lesions result in marked mass effect including obliteration of the basal cisterns on CT scan, surgery is indicated. In addition, the hemorrhagic component may be the primary cause of the contusional edema [6] providing an additional argument for surgical treatment. The clinical efficacy of standard craniotomy has only rarely been compared to other surgical methods [5, 10]. Arguably, the most important and influential study on the role of surgery is instead the Surgical Trial in Traumatic Intracerebral Haemorrhage (STITCH[Trauma]) trial, the first randomized controlled trial comparing surgery for traumatic contusions to best medical management. Here, the primary endpoint was dichotomized functional outcome which was not improved by surgery (p = 0.17). However, mortality (p = 0.006) as well and the Rankin Scale and Glasgow Outcome ScaleExtended (p = 0.047 and p = 0.043 respectively) was significantly improved by early contusionectomy [4]. Unfortunately, this trial had to be prematurely discontinued for funding reasons and only 170 out of the targeted 840 patients could be included. Yet, these data clearly indicate an important role for surgery in the management of traumatic contusions. However, whether surgical removal of moderate-sized contusions adds benefit to neurocritical monitoring and medical treatment [11] and whether patients in a relatively good clinical state (GCS > 8) benefit from surgery remain controversial. Additional studies on the role of surgery for traumatic contusions are clearly warranted. This article is part of the Topical Collection on Brain trauma