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Sinking skin flap syndrome (SSFS), also known as syndrome of the trephined, is one of the complications of decompressive craniectomy. The definitive treatment for the condition is cranioplasty, but there are cases where that is not an option. We report a seventy-seven-year-old male patient with disturbance of consciousness after removal of infected bone flap and debridement. The skin showed marked depression and SSFS was diagnosed. The scalp had contracted due to infection and debridement so as to need skin grafting. Cranioplasty with a full-size bone flap was not an option. Reconstruction of the temporal line with autologous rib graft was performed. The patient became alert after the operation.

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Background: Syndrome of trephined (SoT) is a well-recognized complication of decompressive craniectomy (DC). The understanding of SoT has improved more recently with the increasing utilization of DC for severely raised intracranial pressure. It usually presents after a period of weeks or months with a cluster of adverse neurological symptoms, most commonly with worsening of motor strength. Case Description: An elderly gentleman with traumatic brain injury underwent DC. He later developed a sinking flap and unexplained agitation which responded to cranioplasty by returning to a state of calm. His cognitive function further improved over a period of 6 months. This is an unusual observation reported in this case. Conclusion: Timely recognition of the cognitive complications of craniectomy that may respond to early cranioplasty promises to decrease the length of hospital stay and enhance rehabilitation in such patients.

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El síndrome del trefinado (ST) consiste en el deterioro neurológico que se produce tras la realización de una craniectomía descompresiva en la que no se lleva a cabo reposición ósea. Su incidencia es variable, aunque se cree que esta entidad está infradiagnosticada. Se caracteriza por la reversión de los síntomas tras dicha reposición del hueso, por lo que este es el único tratamiento definitivo. Mostramos el caso de un paciente valorado por el servicio de rehabilitación en la unidad de cuidados intensivos tras sufrir un accidente cerebrovascular, que presenta alteración del nivel de consciencia y deterioro motor abrupto, siendo diagnosticado de ST. La intervención rehabilitadora, con cambios posturales precoces del paciente ayudó a mitigar los síntomas hasta que se realizó el tratamiento resolutivo final (AU)

Syndrome of the trephined (SoT) is the neurological deterioration that occurs after the performance of decompressive craniectomy in which bone is not replaced. The incidence of SoT varies, but this entity seems to be underdiagnosed. It is characterized by symptom reversal after bone replacement, which is the only definitive treatment. We report the case of a patient assessed by the Rehabilitation Service in the Critical Care Unit after a stroke, who had altered level of consciousness and abrupt motor impairment. The patient was diagnosed with SoT. Rehabilitation, with early postural changes, helped to ameliorate the symptoms until the provision of definitive treatment (AU)

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Syndrome of the trephined (SoT) is the neurological deterioration that occurs after the performance of decompressive craniectomy in which bone is not replaced. The incidence of SoT varies, but this entity seems to be underdiagnosed. It is characterized by symptom reversal after bone replacement, which is the only definitive treatment. We report the case of a patient assessed by the Rehabilitation Service in the Critical Care Unit after a stroke, who had altered level of consciousness and abrupt motor impairment. The patient was diagnosed with SoT. Rehabilitation, with early postural changes, helped to ameliorate the symptoms until the provision of definitive treatment.

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OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there is a measureable change in neurologic function after cranioplasty. METHODS: This is a prospective single-surgeon, single-center study. Fifty patients who required a cranioplasty procedure were assessed neurologically within 72 hours before and 7 days after surgery. The assessment tools were the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and the Cognitive assessment report (Cognistat). The scores for both assessments were calculated and then compared before and after surgery. RESULTS: FIM assessment was performed on all fifty patients, and a Cognistat assessment was performed on 47 patients. Most improvements were seen in the Cognistat scores; however, there appeared to be no specific areas in which there was consistent improvement. There were substantial improvements in the Cognistat assessment in 9 patients. One patient had a much-improved FIM assessment (improved from 18 to 34), but a Cognistat assessment was not possible because of poor neurologic function. These results suggested that improvements after cranioplasty were more likely to occur in the domain of cognitive function than motor function, although overall these results did not reach statistically significance. Bifrontal (vs. unilateral) cranioplasty, timing between decompression and cranioplasty, and age of the patients did not appear to affect the postoperative FIM scores, after we adjusted for preoperative FIM scores and surgical complications. CONCLUSIONS: A small but significant number of patients appear to improve clinically after cranioplasty. Neurologic susceptibility to a skull defect may be more common than had been appreciated previously.

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A craniectomia descompressiva (CD) é método cirúrgico amplamente utilizado para tratar a hipertensão intracraniana. Entre as complicações decorrentes da CD, a hidrocefalia é uma das mais frequentes, ocorrendo em até 30% dos casos. A implantação de derivação liquórica, necessária emalguns casos de hidrocefalia, resulta em agravamento da depressão do couro cabeludo, que ocorre após CD ­ síndrome do trefinado (ST). A realização de cranioplastia convencional é inviável em algumas situações, como ST com derivação liquórica, que não melhora após ligadura ou aumento de pressão do sistema, ou ST com depressão acentuada do couro cabeludo. Nestes casos, propomos uma nova técnica que foi aplicada em quatro casos e que consiste na confecção de uma prótese temporária com material gessado ou polimetilmetacrilato para se eliminar o efeito da pressão atmosférica. Em todos os casos, houve melhora da ST.

The decompressive craniectomy (DC) is a surgical method widely used to treat intracranial hypertension. Among the complications of CD, hydrocephalus is one of the most frequently occurring in up to 30% of cases. The implantation of CSF shunt, required in some cases of hydrocephalus results in worsening of the scalp depression, which occurs after CD ­ syndrome of trephined (ST). The performance of conventional cranioplasty is impossible in some situations, such as ST with CSF shunt that does not improve after ligation or increment of system pressure or ST with severe depression of the scalp. In these cases, we propose a new technique that has been applied in four cases and consists in molding a temporary prosthesis with cast material or polymethylmetacrilate to eliminate the effect of atmospheric pressure. In all cases, there was improvement in ST.

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