[Conservative treatment of traumatic intracerebral hematoma]

In the previous report, it was insisted that traumatic intracerebral hematoma should be regarded as a variety of cerebral confusion and that conservative treatment would be therapy of choice in these situations. Adversely, unjudicious operation would sometimes result in more expansion of hematoma by untamponade effect of decompressive craniectomy. In the present investigation, it was attempted to provide therapeutic policy in the management of traumatic intracerebral hematoma. Consecutive thirty two cases of traumatic intracerebral hematomas were selected for this study. Those cases with other hematoma such as epidural or subdural hematoma were excluded. These 32 cases were divided into two groups, operative (15 cases) and non-operative (17 cases). Whether to be operated or not was arbitrarily decided by the surgeons who were faced to the patients. Disturbance of consciousness of the patients were divided into three categories, namely severe (III-100 to 200 level), moderate (II-10 to 30 level), and mild (I-1 to 3 level). They were 8 cases, 5 cases, 1 case in operative cases and 6 cases, 10 cases, 1 case in non-operative cases respectively. Mortality rates were 13.3% (2 cases) in operative cases and none in non-operative ones. Concerning the patients of severely disturbed consciousness, there were no difference in their final outcomes between the two groups. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 cases of moderately disturbed consciousness recovered completely without operation, whereas all operative cases of the same category were, more or less, handicapped.