Clinical outcome of surgery techniquesin patients with brain abscess

Abstract

Aim Brain abscess is a serious, life-threatening infection. Although a brain abscess could arise without any predisposing risk factors, the well-known risk factors are diabetes mellitus, head trauma, history of cranial surgery, and immunosuppression. For surgical treatment, aspiration and total excision are the techniques used.Methods This study was conducted in two different neurosurgery clinics between 2008-2016 with 21 patients treated for brain abscess. Age, sex, the localization of the abscess, number of foci, preoperative and postoperative Glascow Coma Scale, the size of the abscess, the surgical technique performed, the duration of hospitalization, the duration of antibiotic treatment, and culture results of the patients were compared.Results In our study 15 (71.4%) patients were males and 6 (28.6%) patients were females. Mean age was 44.57±23.40 (range 4-86). Mean abscess volume was 46.85±41.19
cm3. There was no significant difference regarding mortality when the two surgical techniques were compared (p=0.486). As the volume of the abscess increases the duration of hospitalization (p=0.003), the duration of antibiotic treatment also increases (p=0.002).Conclusion Although rare, intracranial abscesses have clinical significance due to high morbidity and mortality rates. The success of treatment has significantly increased due to improvements in imaging, surgical technique, bacteriological culture techniques, and antibiotic therapy. A multidiciplinary approach should be considered in managements of
patients with brain abscess.

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