Early versus delayed surgical evacuation of spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hematoma: A prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: The optimum timing for surgical evacuation of spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hematoma (ICH) is still controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome following early versus delayed surgical evacuation of spontaneous supratentorial ICH. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study including 70 patients with spontaneous supratentorial ICH ≥30 cc in volume and Glasgow Coma Scale 8–12. Patients were divided into two groups based on the time interval between ictus and surgery; Group A (evacuated within 8 h from ictus) and Group B (evacuated >8 h from ictus). Outcome was assessed at discharge and at 2 months postoperative using extended Glasgow Outcome Scale. RESULTS: The early evacuation group (Group A) included 44 patients and the late evacuation group (Group B) included 26 patients. Favorable outcome was achieved in 20.5% of the patients in Group A and in 11.5% of the patients in Group B. Mortality rate was 18.2% in Group A and 26.9% in Group B. Three patients in Group A and one patient in Group B required reoperation. The mean hospital stay was 17.18 days and 14.54 days in Groups A and B, respectively. CONCLUSION: Early surgical evacuation of spontaneous supratentorial ICH in patients with good preoperative conscious level is associated with better clinical outcome, particularly in the early postoperative period. Early surgical evacuation has no significant impact on the rate of reoperation or the length of hospital stay.