The impact of cranioplasty on the patients' quality of life

Paulo Valdeci Worm; Guilherme Finger; Tobias Ludwig do Nascimento; Carla Bittencourt Rynkowski; Marcus Vinicius Martins Collares

doi:10.1016/j.jcms.2019.01.040

The impact of cranioplasty on the patients' quality of life

J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2019 May;47(5):715-719. doi: 10.1016/j.jcms.2019.01.040. Epub 2019 Feb 1.

Authors

Paulo Valdeci Worm¹, Guilherme Finger², Tobias Ludwig do Nascimento², Carla Bittencourt Rynkowski³, Marcus Vinicius Martins Collares⁴

Affiliations

¹ Post Graduation Program in Medicine: Surgical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Neurosurgery Department of Cristo Redentor Hospital, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: paulo.worm@ufrgs.br.
² Post Graduation Program in Medicine: Surgical Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - Brazil, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Neurosurgery Department of Cristo Redentor Hospital, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
³ Intensive Care Unit Department of Cristo Redentor Hospital, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Plastic and Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, Porto Alegre Clinical Hospital, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

PMID: 30803855
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcms.2019.01.040

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life in patients with moderate or large cranial bone defects before and after late cranioplasty.

Methods: Authors performed a prospective clinical trial including all consecutive patients that filled inclusion criteria during a period of 1 year. All patients answered the quality of life SF-36 questionnaire in 5 different times. Besides authors gathered information about the primary trauma and demographic characteristics.

Results: A total of 70 consecutive patients were admitted to the hospital during the study period, and 62 were included in the project. Cranioplasty statistically improved patients' quality of life in all 8 domains after a 24 months follow-up.

Conclusion: Cranioplasty has a significant impact over the quality of life in brain trauma victims who survived the primary trauma and harbor a large cranial bone defect.

Keywords: Cranial reconstruction; Cranioplasty; Neurosurgical procedures; Quality of life; Trauma.

MeSH terms

Humans
Patients
Plastic Surgery Procedures
Prospective Studies
Quality of Life*
Retrospective Studies
Skull