Craniotomy-related complications in a paediatric neurosurgery unit--a prospective study

A prospective study on four groups of children undergoing a craniotomy over a 6-month period was carried out in order to assess the incidence of complications. All complications were graded according to their severity and the requirement for extra general anaesthetics also recorded. From this information it is possible to calculate the resource implications of craniotomy-related complications in a paediatric neurosurgical unit, as well as point to those areas of clinical practice where improvements in technique are most needed.