Incidence and risk factors of chronic subdural hematoma after aneurysmal clipping.

OBJECTIVE: Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) after aneurysmal clipping is a rare complication, but its incidence and risk factors are not known in detail. We retrospectively reviewed our cases requiring surgery for CSDH after clipping.

METHODS: In our hospital, between January 2000 and December 2006, 794 patients (unruptured, 58.0%) underwent clipping surgery for aneurysm of the anterior circulation. We reviewed incidence and risk factors of CSDH after clipping. For the past 2 years, we reviewed all computed tomography scans for 163 unruptured aneurysms, and examined the relationship between an increase of subdural fluid collection (SFC) and development of CSDH.

RESULTS: Fifteen patients (1.9%) developed CSDH after clipping, which required evacuation. Among those, 13 had unruptured aneurysms (2.8%), a much higher percentage than for ruptured aneurysms (0.9%). On univariate statistical analysis, risk factors of CSDH were associated with advanced age (P = 0.0005), male gender (P = 0.04), and unruptured aneurysms (P = 0.02). Aneurysmal location was not related to the development of postoperative CSDH. Contralateral CSDH occurred in 3 patients, but no middle cerebral artery aneurysm developed contralateral CSDH. An increase in postoperative SFC during 1 week was a significant risk factor for CSDH (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: In addition to the classic risk factors, this study showed that clipping for unruptured aneurysms carries a higher risk for CSDH compared to ruptured aneurysms. We suggest that an increase of SFC during 1 week postoperatively can be a factor in predicting CSDH after clipping.