Results
Baseline Characteristics
The mean age was 55 years (35-80 years), including 58 male and 26 female patients. The mean GCS score right before surgery was 8.0, ranging from 4 to 13. The mean interval from ictus to surgery was 24 hours with a range from 4 to 70 hours. Hematoma volume on preoperative head CT scan was 58 mL on average with a range from 30 to 105 mL. IVH was observed in 49 patients. The mean ICH score was 2.6, ranging from 1 to 4 points. In all, 45% (38 of 84) of the patients had documented clinical or radiologic cerebral herniation.
Baseline characteristics for both groups are shown in Table 1 in detail. Significant differences were observed for several variables between the groups. There were statistically more patients with signs of cerebral hernia- tion and more patients with IVH in the decompressive craniectomy group than the hematoma evacuation only group (82% v 15%, P 5.00, and 74% v 46%, P 5.01, respec- tively). The ICH score was also significantly higher in the decompressive craniectomy group compared with the hematoma evacuation only group (P 5 .00).