Cranioplasty: Indications, Procedure, and Outcome. A Single Institution Experience of Short Term Outcome

Abstract Background: Cranioplasty is the process of inserting a device into the skull to correct a deformity. More than 50% of decompressive craniectomies are performed due to trauma and strokes. Patients who survive will require cranioplasty surgery for cosmetic reasons and to protect the brain. Aim of Study: The purpose of this report is to provide our knowledge of the indications, complications, and short-term clinical outcomes of cranioplasty. Patients and Methods: Forty patients who were admitted to our Hospital's Neurosurgery Department between June 2019 and January 2022 were the participants of this retrospec-tive investigation. Those included in the study had undergone cranioplasty for treatment of a defect in the skull vault. All patients were operated upon by autologous or artificial bone cement. The variables age, gender, indication for cranioplasty, kind of graft, timing of operation, and complications were analyzed. Results: This is a single-institutional retrospective study of cranioplasty patients. The study included 40 participants between 2019 – 2022. The average age of the population under study was 36.75 years. The mean duration of an operation was 124.70 minutes. Cranioplasty was done with autologous graft in 26 patients and with artificial graft in 14 patients. The average duration of the surgery ranged from 61 to 120 minutes. As the p-value was greater than 0.05, there was no statistically significant difference between operative time and kind of graft. Between craniectomy and cranioplasty, the median time period was 13-24 weeks (18 patients). There was no statistically significant difference between average time interval between craniectomy and cranioplasty and ensuing complications as p-value was >0.05. Conclusions: Cranioplasty is a common neurosurgical technique used to help rebuild the skull. Throughout the past decade to fifteen years, advancements in technology, opera-tional practices, and production methods have helped it.