Medicine & Health
The Creation of a Novel Device to Improve the Evacuation of Subdural Hematomas
Jaden Tepper
Medicine & Health
Jaden Tepper
A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a common brain injury characterized by a hemorrhage in the subdural space, which is situated under the skull but above the brain. SDH patients may experience symptoms including headache, dizziness, nausea, disorientation, seizure, and loss of consciousness. Subdural hematomas are extremely dangerous, and these complications result in permanent damage. In 2011, the mortality rate for patients with an acute subdural hematoma was 10.3%. There are two main surgical techniques utilized to drain SDH. The first is a craniotomy where a large section of the skull is removed, allowing for easy access to the hemorrhage. However, this technique is very invasive. The second utilizes a burr hole to access the hematoma. This operation is less invasive, but the blood can not be as easily evacuated. The optimal solution is a combination of the non-invasive nature of a burr hole being enhanced with improved access to the hematoma. The goal of this study was to create a device that would allow a surgeon the ability to achieve better evacuation of a subdural hematoma while maintaining minimally invasive techniques. The device created to accomplish this goal consists of a two-tube design. There is a flexible inner tube and a rigid, elastic outer tube. When combined, it gives the surgeon access to the entirety of an SDH. The device was tested on brain-like gelatin models and was compared to the commonly used burr hole method. The five tests of the novel device (M = 73.6, SD = 2.70) compared to the five tests with the control procedure (M = 63.0, SD = 4.90) demonstrated significantly improved SDH evacuation rates, t(8) = 4.24, p < 0.01. This novel design for evacuating SDH could serve as a viable alternative to current procedures that would improve evacuation rates while maintaining minimal invasiveness.