The study authors reviewed a 15-patient series of acute spinal epidural hematoma patients. Surgeons performed the procedures between 1996 and 2012. Study authors also conducted a literature review spanning 1,010 cases from 1869 to 2012. While researchers did not report hematoma cause in 42 percent of the cases, researchers sought to examine the etiology and outcomes.
Study authors found:
1. Eighteen percent of the cases concerned mainly iatrogenic factors, including spinal puncture. Noniatrogenic factors like genetic or metabolic coagulopathy, trauma and pregnancy, were associated with 29 percent of the cases.
2. Around 11 percent of the cases had multifactorial etiology.
3. C-6 and T-12 vertebra were the most common sites for the hematoma. In 720 cases, surgeons reported a maximum extension of six vertebral bodies.
4. Most of the patients, 84 percent, reported moderate neurological impairment at admission. However, lumbar hematomas were associated with good initial neurological status, according to the report.
5. Surgeons operated in 80 percent of the cases.
6. Patients exceeding 40 years old reported greater mortality. The patient’s sex didn’t influence the data.
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