When faced with calvarial defects, surgeons have long searched for repair materials. General criteria include ease of use, low cost, availability, cosmetic shape, and osteointegrative potential. While autologous bone is widely used and favored in contemporary reconstructive procedures, synthetic alternatives have been used throughout history and are necessary in current practice for select cases when autograft reconstruction is not an option (such as cases with severe bony comminution, bone graft resorption, infection, and limited donor site options). For centuries, surgeons have experimented with metals, ceramics, plastics, and later, resorbable polymers. This paper provides a tour of the materials that have been used and experimented with throughout the history of alloplastic cranioplasty.
Both receipt of blood transfusion and any degree of preoperative anemia were associated with increased length of hospital stay after controlling for other variables. Severe anemia, but not receipt of blood transfusion, was associated with increased rate of readmission. Our findings may help define actions to reduce length of stay and decrease rates of readmission.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.