Macon, GA, January 25,2017 – In conjunction with Cambridge University and Navicent Health, Georgia Neurosurgical Institute, today announced the Institute’s participation in an international research trial, RESCUE- ASDH (Randomised Evaluation of Surgery with Craniectomy for patients Undergoing Evacuation of Acute SubDural Hematoma). GNI -with practice offices in Macon, Warner Robins, Dublin and Milledgeville- will become the sixth partner in the United States, and the only one in the Southeast, to participate in this important research.
RESCUE-ASDH is a multi-center, randomized trial that aims to compare the clinical implications and cost-effectiveness of decompressive craniectomy versus craniotomy for the management of acute subdural hematomas (ASDH). Approximately two-thirds of head-injured patients undergoing emergency brain surgery have an ASDH evacuated. When an ASDH is evacuated, the bone flap can be left out or replaced prior to closing the skin. The RESCUE-ASDH trial will compare these two specific components of the operation to remove an acute subdural hematoma (i.e. bone flap left out prior to closing the skin versus bone flap replaced prior to closing the skin). Both options are widely practiced and accepted, but they have never been compared head-to-head in a randomized trial. When the bone flap is replaced prior to closing the skin, the operation is named craniotomy. On the other hand, when the bone flap is left out, the operation is named decompressive craniectomy (DC). The advantage of a DC is that it helps to control brain swelling which is often a problem in the days after the operation. When the swelling goes down, the patient has another operation to reconstruct the skull (cranioplasty). The advantage of a craniotomy is that the patient will not need a later operation to rebuild the skull. However, it may fail to control brain swelling in some patients.
GNI has endeavored to further neurosurgical treatments and procedures throughout its 62-year history. Research has always been core to its mission, so it is a natural fit for GNI to participate in a trial of this magnitude.
For more information, please visit www.ganeuroandspine.com or rescueasdh.org.
