A new expandable cannula system for endoscopic evacuation of intraparenchymal hemorrhages

The authors describe a newly developed expandable cannula to enable a more efficient use of an endoscope in removing intraparenchymal spontaneous hypertensive intracerebral hematomas. The cannula is introduced like a conventional brain cannula, using neuronavigation techniques to reach the targeted hematoma accurately, and, once deployed, conventional microsurgical techniques are used under direct endoscopic visualization. This method was used in 6 patients, and, based on the results of intraoperative intracranial pressure monitoring and postoperative CT scanning, the authors were able to achieve good hematoma removal. They found that by using the expandable cannula, efficient endoscopic surgery in the brain parenchyma was possible.