The minimum time for cranioplasty insertion from craniectomy is six months to reduce risk of infection- a case series of 82 patients

Objective. Cranioplasty is carried out for cosmesis, protection and also for neurological improvement following cranial defect. Infection post cranioplasty is problematic. We look at the outcome from 10 years of cranioplasty patients, and aim to see if there is a correlation between infection and time to insertion of cranial plate. Methods. A retrospective case series identifying all cranioplasty patients between 1998-2008 using the maxillofacial laboratory data log of all plates that were made during this time. Data was yielded from the clinical case notes and the microbiology database. The outcome measure was infection defined as removal of cranioplasty plate. Results. Total cranioplasties performed = 82. Infected cranioplasties = 9 (7 titanium 2 acrylic). An 11% infection rate of cranioplasties. Craniectomy due to trauma, with cranioplasty occurring between 0 to 6 months had the greatest number of infective cases, with 8 out of 9 occuring in this period (p value = 0.0076). Conclusion. Cranioplasty carried out at a minimum of 6 months post craniectomy limits the risk of infection.