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Background There is an increasing incidence of chronic subdural hematoma due to extended life expectancy and associated trauma and fall risk. This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of two burr-hole craniotomy over mini-craniotomy. Methods Sixty-five patients were recruited over 2 years, of which 56 were male and 9 were females. A patient with a chronic subdural hematoma either underwent burr-hole craniostomy or mini-craniotomy for hematoma evacuation. Glasgow coma scale (GCS) and modified Rankin score were used to assess the neurological status and interventional outcome at discharge and follow-up, respectively. A head CT scan was performed at 3 week and 3 month follow-up. Statistical Analysis Categorical data are presented as frequency and percentage, while non-categorical data are represented as mean ± SD. Statistical significance for difference in outcome between the two groups was analyzed using the chi-square test and p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean age of patients was 55.6 years. Headache (35 cases), hemiparesis, and altered sensorium were seen in 20 patients, each with the main presenting symptoms. Trauma history was noted in 69.2% of patients. One (3.7%) hematoma recurrence in the burr-hole group and four (8.3%) in the mini-craniotomy group was recorded. The mean operative time was longer in the minicraniotomy group (124.2 min vs. 75.4 min; p < 0.001). A higher incidence of recurrence was noted in the craniotomy group (8.3%) than the burr-hole group (3.7%). No statistical difference in the recurrence rate, duration of hospital stay, GCS at discharge, modified Rankin score between the two study groups at discharge was noted. Conclusion Two burr-hole craniostomy is a safe and effective surgical option to treat chronic subdural hematoma. It is also validated in patients on anticoagulants and antiplatelet medications with adequate pre-surgical correction of coagulation parameters.

Factor XIII (FXIII) deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder with affected patients having high propensity for intracranial hemorrhage. A 12-year-old girl presented with severe headache, limb weakness, and rapidly worsening sensorium over 4 days. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and computed tomography (CT) of the head showed intraparenchymal bleed. Patient had normal coagulation profile and abnormal FXIII level. The perioperative management included cryoprecipitate transfusion to bring the FXIII value to 74%. She underwent craniotomy and evacuation of the hematoma. Postoperatively, she received prophylaxis against rebleed with cryoprecipitate. In the absence of FXIII concentrate, correction of FXIII deficiency is possible with cryoprecipitate in emergent situations.

Introduction: Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) constitutes the standard mode of treatment for cervical disc herniation due to degeneration. Stand-alone cage can be considered as effective treatment for single and two level disc prolapse. Aim: To examine the clinical outcomes of ACDF using stand- alone Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cage in a single centre. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted from July 2015 to Dec 2020 in 224 consecutive patients who underwent successful ACDF using self-locking stand-alone PEEK cage, study was done at Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara tertiary care hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India for radiculopathy or myelopathy due to cervical degenerative disc disease. Data analysis was done upto March 2021. The patients were analysed with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain score for neck and arm pain and Nurick grade preoperatively and at 3 months postoperatively. Patients underwent preoperative and postoperative clinical, neurological evaluation. This study was statistically analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 13.0) (IBM, Chicago, IL). Results: Out of 244, (73%)164 patients underwent single level ACDF and sixty (27%) two-level ACDF. The mean age of patients was 45.86±12.07. It included 146 (65.2%) males and 78 (34.8%) female patients. In this study, the mean VAS neck score preoperatively was 4.04 and at 3 months postoperatively was 1.66 which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Even in VAS arm scores, there was a statistical significant difference (p<0.001) between preoperative (7.25) and 3 months postoperative (1.63) scores. The mean Nurick grade preoperatively was 1.46 vs 0.40 postoperatively which was statistically significant (p<0.001). No implant related complications or adjacent level disease was noted. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that treatment of cervical degenerative disc disease by ACDF withstand alone PEEK cage is an effective and safe method.