Spontaneous healing of acute extradural hematomas: study of twenty-two cases.

A series of 22 patients with acute extradural hematomas that were not evacuated surgically is presented. Patients were asymptomatic or had only minimal neurological disturbances on admission. In all cases, serial computed tomographic scanning documented the progressive resolution of these clots, the great majority within 1 month of injury. The decision of conservative vs. surgical treatment may be guided by the thickness, configuration, location, and possible association with intradural parenchymal lesion.