[Supplementation of cranial defects by an autologous bone flap stored in the abdominal wall].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this paper is to present an alternative method of cranioplasty with the use of an autologous cranial bone flap stored between primary and restorative surgery in the subcutaneous pocket in the lateral hypogastric region.


METHODS
Between January 1999 and April 2002, in the Department of Neurosurgery of Medical University of Łódź we performed 36 procedures of the bone flap implantation into the abdominal subcutaneous fat tissue. These procedures followed craniectomy, mainly in cases of acute subdural hematomas and ruptured intracranial aneurysms.


RESULTS
After storage, the bone flap was reimplanted in 28 patients. The mean time between operations was 14 days (range 8-53 days). In the cranioplasty group we had only one infection of the bone flap. Among patients excluded from the bone flap restoration we observed one inflammatory complication in the abdominal wall and one subcutaneous hematoma requiring evacuation.


CONCLUSIONS
In our opinion, the presented method of the cranial defect's supplementation may be competitive to procedures utilizing synthetic prostheses in the population of patients for whom reimplantation of the bone flap will be expected in 2-3 months after the primary operation. Advantages of the procedure are: the autologous bone graft, the excellent cosmetic effect, low costs of the procedure and low rate of inflammatory complications.
Tybor
Krzysztof
K
Katedra i Klinika Neurochirurgii, Uniwersytet Medyczny w Łodzi. Piotr9324439@pharmanet.com.pl
Fortuniak
Jan
J
Komuński
Piotr
P
Papiez
Tomasz
T
Andrzejak
Stanisław
S
Jaskólski
Dariusz
D
Shariati
Babak
B
Zawirski
Marek
M
D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D003399:Craniotomy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D020199:Hematoma, Subdural, Acute / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011044:Poland; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013524:Surgical Flaps; D013997:Time Factors; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous