the optimal surgical approach for treatment of chronic subdural hematoma: questionnaire assessment of practice in iran and review of literature

chronic subdural hematoma (csdh) is a curable entity frequently encountered by neurosurgeons. the present study was conducted to explore expert opinion and common practice in iran. besides, a review of randomized clinical trials in literature was performed. a questionnaire including six questions discussing major aspects of practice on csdh, with multiple choices was designed. a pilot study was performed for reliability analysis of the questionnaire. a total of 100 neurosurgeons were selected randomly from the members of iranian association of neurological surgeons. frequency of answers to each item, differences in response rates and correlation of various categories were analyzed using chi-square statistics. the mean duration of experience was 15.4 ± 5 years, with a range of 10 to 37 years. the most common initial procedure of choice was burr-hole drainage (64%). at recurrent cases, surgical approach was changed to craniotomy at one-third of those treated initially with burr-hole drainage. the participants believed that surgical technique was predictive of outcome and recurrence. burr-hole without drainage was used by less expert neurosurgeons (mean 12.5 ± 6), however, burr-hole drainage was the dominant technique at more than 15 years of experience and craniectomy was used only by participants with more than 30 years of experience (10%). irrigation was used by most of the neurosurgeons (87.5%) in combination with drainage and burr-hole. the majority of participants used flat position at the postoperative period. at the current study, the pattern of management for csdh was similar to other reports at literature suggesting the burr-hole drainage and irrigation as optimal treatment. individualized decision-making could be made at challenging cases.