Burr Hole Surgery for Drainage of Chronic and Subacute Subdural Hematomas: Low Recurrence Rate in a Single Surgeon Cohort

Background: A complication after surgical intervention for chronic and subacute subdural hematoma drainage is the recurrence of hematoma, often requiring repeat surgical management. Recurrence rates varied widely across the published series, which may partially be due to different technical strategies used by the surgeons involved in the study. We decided to review our patients with chronic and subacute subdural hematomas that were surgically managed with a burr hole procedure by a single surgeon to compare recurrence rates with the evidence available. Methods: A retrospective review of the medical records was performed on the patients who underwent burr hole surgical intervention to drain a chronic or subacute subdural hematoma between April 1995 and March 2020. All patients were under the care of a single surgeon at an academic institution. Variables analyzed included age, sex, laterality of the hematoma, and recurrence. Results: During the selected timeframe, 610 cases were identified. There were 35 cases of recurrence of the hematoma. The recurrence rate after burr hole drainage was 5.73%. Conclusion: Surgical drainage of chronic and subacute subdural hematoma via burr hole using consistent stepwise management is associated with a relatively low recurrence rate in our single surgeon patient cohort.