Comparative Therapeutic Effectiveness of Anticoagulation and Conservative Management in Traumatic Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis

BACKGROUND:Consensus is currently lacking in the optimal treatment for blunt traumatic cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (tCVST). Anticoagulation (AC) is used for treating spontaneous CVST, but its role in tCVST remains unclear.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the characteristics and outcomes of patients treated with AC compared with patients managed conservatively.METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed patients who presented to a Level 1 trauma center with acute skull fracture after blunt head trauma who underwent dedicated venous imaging.RESULTS:There were 137 of 424 patients (32.3%) presenting with skull fractures with tCVST on venous imaging. Among them, 82 (60%) were treated with AC while 55 (40%) were managed conservatively. Analysis of baseline characteristics demonstrated no significant difference in age, sex, admission Glasgow Coma Scale, admission Injury Severity Score, rates of associated intracranial hemorrhage, or neurosurgical interventions. New or worsening intracranial hemorrhage was seen in 7 patients treated with AC. Patients on AC had significantly lower mortality than non-AC (1% vs 15%; P = .003). There was no difference in the Glasgow Coma Scale or Glasgow Outcome Scale at last clinical follow-up. On follow-up venous imaging, patients treated with AC were more likely to experience full thrombus recanalization than non-AC (54% vs 32%; P = .012), and subsequent multiple regression analysis revealed that treatment with AC was a significant predictor of full thrombus recanalization (odds ratio, 5.18; CI, 1.60-16.81; P = .006).CONCLUSION:Treatment with AC for tCVST due to blunt head trauma may promote higher rates of complete thrombus recanalization when compared with conservative management.

Automated summary

This study retrospectively investigated the characteristics and outcomes of patients with tCVST after blunt head trauma, finding that patients treated with AC had significantly lower mortality rates and were more likely to experience full thrombus recanalization. These findings suggest that AC treatment may be beneficial for patients with tCVST after blunt head trauma.