Contralateral haematoma secondary to decompressive craniectomy performed for severe head trauma: A descriptive study of 15 cases

Background: Contralateral haematoma is an infrequent but severe complication of decompressive craniectomy for head trauma.Method: A retrospective study was performed of patients developing this complication after decompressive craniectomy for head trauma in the institute. Demographics, mechanism of trauma, time interval between trauma and first operation, time interval between first operation and onset of contralateral haematoma and patients’ outcomes were recorded for further analysis.Results: Fifteen patients developed this complication in the study; most had epidural haematomas, which appeared within the first 12 hours after decompressive craniectomy in 13 patients, including three haematomas that developed during surgical decompression. Contralateral cranial fracture is a major risk factor for this condition. Only one patient recovered to mild disability. All remaining patients had poor outcomes, with Glasgow coma scale scores ≤3, except for one patient who was lost to follow-up. A literature review o...