Minimally invasive therapy for intracerebral hematomas.

The Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neurosurgery, Mayfield Clinic, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA. dthompson@mayfieldclinic.com

The efficacy of surgical treatment of ICH remains unproven and controversial [40]. Although open surgery does not appear to improve the patient's outcome [2], less invasive methods of hematoma evacuation seem to show promising results in improving patient outcome and survival. To date, the only two clinical trials that have demonstrated benefit from surgical treatment over medical therapy for ICH have used minimally invasive techniques [27,38]. Randomized controlled clinical trials comparing minimally invasive surgical techniques versus best medical treatment are needed to determine the best management of ICH.

PMID: 12486924 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]