title: [Craniotomy without trichotomy: analysis of 640 cases].
abstract: The hair shaving in preparation for neurosurgery is frequently used in most of neurosurgical centers to perform craniotomy. We question about its necessity after our retrospective analysis of 640 patients undergoing cranial procedures without previous hair shaving. We had the overall surgical wound infection rate of 1.09%, not higher than tricotomy in the review of the literature. In 7 cases with infection, 3 patients were undergoing to CSF shunts, 3 patients had head injury, and one had brain tumor. The technique for preparing skin and hair for cranial procedures, its advantages and disadvantages are described and discussed.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Neurocirurgia e Neurologia, Hospital Regional Vale do Ribeira, Pariquera-Açu, SP, Brazil. amylcar@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Amylcar E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Dvilevicius
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: José Iram M
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: do Rêgo
authors.forename: Daniel Souza
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Fábio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pietrowski
authors.forename: Arnaldo Dias
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003399:Craniotomy; D005260:Female; D006204:Hair Removal; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control