Effectiveness of endoscopic surgery for supratentorial hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage: a comparison with craniotomy

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness and practicality of endoscopic surgery for treatment of supratentorial hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH) compared with traditional craniotomy. METHODS The authors retrospectively analyzed 151 consecutive patients who were operated on for treatment of supratentorial HICH between January 2009 and June 2014 in the Department of Neurosurgery at Chinese PLA General Hospital. Patients were separated into an endoscopy group (82 cases) and a craniotomy group (69 cases), depending on the surgery they received. The hematoma evacuation rate was calculated using 3D Slicer software to measure the hematoma volume. Comparisons of operative time, intraoperative blood loss, Glasgow Coma Scale score 1 week after surgery, hospitalization time, and modified Rankin Scale score 6 months after surgery were also made between these groups. RESULTS There was no statistically significant difference in preoperative data between the endoscopy group and the craniotomy group (p > 0.05). The hematoma evacuation rate was 90.5% +/- 6.5% in the endoscopy group and 82.3% +/- 8.6% in the craniotomy group, which was statistically significant (p < 0.01). The operative time was 1.6 +/- 0.7 hours in the endoscopy group and 5.2 +/- 1.8 hours in the craniotomy group (p < 0.01). The intraoperative blood loss was 91.4 +/- 93.1 ml in the endoscopy group and 605.6 +/- 602.3 ml in the craniotomy group (p < 0.01). The 1-week postoperative Glasgow Coma Scale score was 11.5 +/- 2.9 in the endoscopy group and 8.3 +/- 3.8 in the craniotomy group (p < 0.01). The hospital stay was 11.6 +/- 6.9 days in the endoscopy group and 13.2 +/- 7.9 days in the craniotomy group (p < 0.05). The mean modified Rankin Scale score 6 months after surgery was 3.2 +/- 1.5 in the endoscopy group and 4.1 +/- 1.9 in the craniotomy group (p < 0.01). Patients had better recovery in the endoscopy group than in the craniotomy group. Data are expressed as the mean +/- SD. CONCLUSIONS Compared with traditional craniotomy, endoscopic surgery was more effective, less invasive, and may have improved the prognoses of patients with supratentorial HICH. Endoscopic surgery is a promising method for treatment of supratentorial HICH. With the development of endoscope technology, endoscopic evacuation will become more widely used in the clinic. Prospective randomized controlled trials are needed.