[Contribution to the surgical treatment of haematoma and hygroma in adults (author's transl)].

Among thirty cases of chronic subdural hematoma and hygroma in patients between 16 and 78 years of age, nine were found on the left side, ten on the right side and eleven were bilateral. The diagnosis was made in all cases by computer assisted tomography. Surgical treatment consisted in evacuating the subdural collection of fluid through two or three enlarged burr-holes, resection of the membranes were accessible through the burr-hole, irrigation of the subdural space and its subsequent drainage. The drain was left in postoperatively until the draining fluid became clear or the subdural space was dry. In one case there was a superficial intracerebral hematoma which obsorbed spontaneously. One patient with a subdural empyema required craniotomy. Only four out of ten patients who were comatose pre-operatively survived. Out of the 30 patients, 24 had a satisfactory postoperative outcome.