• Pawel Gutowski, Ullrich Meier, Veit Rohde, Johannes Lemcke, and Christian von der Brelie.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: Pawel.Gutowski@ukb.de.
• World Neurosurg. 2018 Oct 1; 118: e166-e174.

ObjectivePatients from contemporary populations with traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from epidural hematoma (EDH) may differ regarding age, comorbidities, and coagulation status. We therefore analyzed predictors for the clinical outcome of patients with EDH treated surgically regarding modern approaches to resuscitation and trauma care.MethodsA retrospective observational analysis was carried out. All patients included underwent surgery. The indication for surgery followed international guidelines. Retrospective data evaluation considered data reflecting the effectiveness of trauma care, baseline characteristics, and radiologic findings. In this analysis, we divided patients into 2 groups (isolated EDH vs. EDH plus other intracranial traumatic injuries). The neurologic outcome was assessed at discharge using the Glasgow Outcome Scale.ResultsTwo hundred and sixty-eight patients with epidural hematoma, of whom 131 underwent surgery, were treated between January 1997 and December 2012 in our level-1 trauma center. The overall mortality was 6.8% (mortality for patients with Glasgow Outcome Scale score <9, 15%). As expected, factors with a highly significant (P < 0.01) impact on outcome were concomitant with other intracranial injuries, brain midline shift, and higher Injury Severity Score. Alcohol intoxication was a significant (P < 0.05) predictor of an unfavorable outcome. Anticoagulants and Glasgow Coma Scale score at admission had no significant impact on the outcome.ConclusionsThe outcome for EDH is more favorable than decades ago, most probably reflecting a well-established chain of trauma care. Therefore, EDH is a treatable disease with a high probability of a favorable outcome.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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