A Comparative Study between Synthetic Fabric Patch Graft and Collagen Matrix Graft in Duraplasty

Abstract

BACKGROUND Watertight dural closure is a vital and desirable step following all intracerebral operations to prevent CSF leakage, consequent infection and wound dehiscence and delayed wound healing which in turn increases patient morbidity and mortality. Various autologous and synthetic materials have been tried for duraplasty. This study was done to compare two types of synthetic materials used for duraplasty. METHODS This randomised prospective study was done at our institute on 56 patients who underwent decompressive craniectomy. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, one group underwent duraplasty with synthetic fabric patch graft and the other group underwent duraplasty with collagen matrix graft and results were compared between the two groups. RESULTS Patients who underwent duraplasty with collagen matrix graft were found to have a significantly reduced operating time of nearly 34 minutes as compared to the synthetic fabric patch and also there was no incidence of CSF leakage or wound infection in those patients in whom collagen matrix was used. CONCLUSIONS Collagen matrix graft is far superior to synthetic fabric graft for duraplasty as it saves valuable operating time and has fewer complications as compared to synthetic fabric grafts. KEY WORDS Duraplasty, Collagen Matrix Graft, Synthetic Fabric Patch Graft