A 2-Year Prospective Study of Complication Rates After Cranioplasty: Is 8 Weeks' Interval Associated with Increased Complications?

■ BACKGROUND: The commonly observed complications after cranioplasty include infections, intracranial hemor-rhage, and seizures. The timing of cranioplasty after decompressive craniectomy (DC) is still under debate, with literature available for both early and delayed cranio-plasties. The objectives of this study were to note the overall complication rates and more specifically compare complications between 2 different time intervals.■ METHODS: This was a 24-month, single-center, pro-spective study. Since timing is the most debated variable, the study cohort was divided into 2 groups (& POUND;8 weeks and >8 weeks). Furthermore, other variables such as age, gender, etiology of DC, neurologic condition, and blood loss were correlated with complications.■ RESULTS: A total of 104 cases were analyzed. Two thirds were traumatic etiology. The mean and median DC-cranioplasty intervals were 11.3 weeks (range 4-52 weeks) and 9 weeks, respectively. Seven complications (6.7%) were observed in 6 patients. There was no statisti-cal difference observed between any of the variables and complications.■ CONCLUSIONS: We observed that performing cranio-plasty within 8 weeks of the initial DC surgery is safe and noninferior to cranioplasty performed after 8 weeks. Therefore if the general condition of the patient is satis-factory, we are of the opinion that an interval of 6-8 weeks from the primary DC is safe and a reasonable time frame for performing cranioplasty.