Efficacy of Epidural Blood Patching or Surgery in Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension: A Systematic Review and Evidence Map

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is an important cause of treatable secondary headaches. Evidence on the efficacy of epidural blood patching and surgery for spontaneous intracranial hypotension has not been synthesized.PURPOSE: Our aim was to identify evidence clusters and knowledge gaps in the efficacy of treatments for spontaneous intracranial hypotension to prioritize future research.DATA SOURCES: We searched published English language articles on MEDLINE (Ovid), the Web of Science (Clarivate), and EMBASE (Elsevier) from inception until October 29, 2021.STUDY SELECTION: We reviewed experimental, observational, and systematic review studies assessing the efficacy of epidural blood patching or surgery in spontaneous intracranial hypotension.DATA ANALYSIS: One author performed data extraction, and a second verified it. Disagreements were resolved by consensus or adjudicated by a third author.DATA SYNTHESIS: One hundred thirty-nine studies were included (median, 14 participants; range, 3?298 participants). Most articles were published in the past decade. Most assessed epidural blood patching outcomes. No studies met level 1 evidence. Most were retrospective cohort or case series (92.1%, n = 128). A few compared the efficacy of different treatments (10.8%, n = 15). Most used objective methods for the diagnosis of spontaneous intracranial hypotension (62.3%, n = 86); however, 37.7% (n = 52) did not clearly meet the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 criteria. CSF leak type was unclear in 77.7% (n = 108). Nearly all reported patient symptoms using unvalidated measures (84.9%, n = 118). Outcomes were rarely collected at uniform prespecified time points.LIMITATIONS:The investigation did not include transvenous embolization of CSF-to-venous fistulas.CONCLUSIONS: Evidence gaps demonstrate a need for prospective study designs, clinical trials, and comparative studies. We recommend using the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 diagnostic criteria, explicit reporting of CSF leak subtype, inclusion of key procedural details, and using objective validated outcome measures collected at uniform time points.

Automated summary

This study synthesized evidence on the efficacy of treatments for spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH), identified evidence gaps, and prioritized future research.