Surgical findings and postoperative therapeutic modalities

The 8 Italian centers participating in the International Cooperative Study on Timing of Aneurysm Surgery operated upon 68% of their patients eligible for the study. This low operative rate is mainly explained by the prevailing use of a delayed surgical policy. Only 28% of cases were operated on within 3 days of hemorrhage. Although early surgery was applied in more than 50% of patients from Centers 2, 6 and 7, most other centers operated on approximately 10% of patients within this time interval. Italian centers exhibited a wide variation in planned and actual surgery interval, with only 48% of their patients eventually operated on at the planned time. Differences from planned and actual timing of surgery were less consistent in the units performing early surgery. Preoperative conditions were different between the individual centers. The percent of patients alert at the time of surgery varied from approximately 50% in Centers 3 and 7 to 90% in Center 5. Centers 2 and 6 never operated on comatose patients and rarely stuporous patients. During surgery, induced hypotension was used in 67% of Italian patients. The brain was tight at exposure in 42% of patients from Italian centers; the difference from the other study centers was very significant (p = 0.0009). Consequently major brain resection was more frequently performed in Italy than in the other centers. Brain conditions depended mainly upon timing of surgery and preoperative grade (except for comatose patients) and varied accordingly between the individual centers. Temporary arterial occlusion was rarely used in Italian centers. Intraoperative bleeding from the aneurysm was slightly more frequent than in the other centers. The overall incidence of intraoperative complications was unremarkable. There were significant differences between the Italian and the other centers regarding the use of postoperative routines and medications. In Italian centers ventricular CSF drainage, shunt insertion, ICP monitoring, sedatives and analgesics were less frequently used; lumbar CSF drainage, anticonvulsants, steroids, and diuretics were applied more frequently. In the individual centers the major differences were in the use of antihypertensives, vasopressor agents, diuretics, hypervolemia, and low-molecular weight dextran.