Risk factors related to intracranial infection after craniotomy and its countermeasures

Objective To explore the risk factors related to the intracranial infection after craniotomy in order to provide the basis for its prevention and treatment. Methods Of 653 patients who underwent a craniotomy from 2006 to 2012 in our department, 58 had intracranial infection and 595 not. The possible risk factors related to the intracranial infection were analyzed by the single factor analysis. The significant risk factors shown by the single factor analysis were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors related to the intracranial infection after the craniotomy included cerebrospinal fluid leakage, posterior fossa operation, more than 4 hours operative duration, external ventricular drainage, intracranial application of artificial implants, diabetes mellitus which the patients had, and the infection outside the central nervous system. Conclusion The intracranial infection after the craniotomy may be reduced by the tight suturation of the dura mater, shortening the operative duration and external ventricular drainage duration, avoiding unnecessary artificial material implantation, controlling the blood glucose and positive treatment of the systemic infection.