Twist drill aspiration of chronic subdural hematoma at the Ignace Deen hospital of Conakry

Abstract

Bedside percutaneous twist drill aspiration (TDA) is described as a surgical method of management of Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) and appear to be a reasonable approach in low medical resources environment. We report the results of TDA of CSDH in a single tertiary centre in Conakry Republic of Guinea in West Africa, for the period March 2015 to October 2017. The charts and medical record of 38 cases of CSDH treated with TDA were collected retrospectively, with a mean follow-up of 84.2 days. The outcome data assessed were neurologic status evaluated by the follow-up Markwalder grading scale (MGS: 0=normal to 4=coma), recurrence, infection and mortality. The Male-Female ratio was 1.3:1. Mean age at diagnosis was 78.2+/-12 years. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) was identified as causal in 28.2% of cases studied. All patients were operated on under local anesthesia and had a postoperative drain left in place for 3 days. The mean postoperative MGS was 1.06, up from a mean preoperative MGS of 3.7. Two cases of recurrence occurred subsequent to TDA causing death and three other patients died from unknown causes during the follow-up period. No cases of post-operative infection were diagnosed during the follow-up. Our study shows that Bedside TDA appears to be a suitable alternative to burr hole craniotomies in urgent cases of CSDH in the low socio-economic setting, where a surgical theatre is not always available.