Intracranial hypertension after surgical correction for craniosynostosis: a systematic review.

OBJECT The authors' aim was perform a systematic review on the incidence of intracranial hypertension (IH) after surgery for craniosynostosis. METHODS A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed to assess the rate of postoperative IH in studies published between 1985 and 2014. Inclusion criteria were 1) English-language literature; 2) human subjects; 3) pediatric cases; and 4) postoperative IH confirmed with invasive intracranial pressure monitoring. RESULTS Seven studies met inclusion criteria. IH was reported to be present in 5% of patients postoperatively with sagittal synostosis and 4% of patients with all forms of nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Inadequate numbers were available to determine the incidence of postoperative IH for syndromic and individual nonsyndromic sutural synostosis based on the inclusion criteria. Surgical groups were subdivided into cranial remodeling procedures without orbital advancement and craniofacial procedures with orbital advancement. IH was reported to be present in 5% of patients with all forms of nonsyndromic sutural stenosis after cranial remodeling procedures and 1% after craniofacial advancement. CONCLUSIONS Postoperative development of elevated intracranial pressure has been described by multiple institutions, but the variation in how IH is determined and the multiple surgical procedures to correct craniosynostosis has limited the number of studies subject to a meta-analysis. Nonetheless, this entity deserves special attention, and further studies are required to determine the true incidence of postoperative IH, including the role of various surgical procedures on its incidence. The long-term consequences of chronic IH in this group of patients also need to be evaluated.