Hemopatch® as a primary dural sealant in cranial neurosurgery: Technical note and a retrospective study.

Objectives: To determine the effectiveness and safety of Hemopatch^® as a primary dural sealant in preventing CSF leakage following cranial surgery. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks occur in cranial operations and are associated with significant patient burden and expense. The use of Hemopatch^® as a dural sealant in cranial neurosurgical procedures is described and analyzed in this study.

Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from all patients who underwent a craniotomy for various neurosurgical indications where Hemopatch^® was used as the primary dural sealant between June 2017 and June 2022. Infection and CSF leak were the main indicators evaluated after surgery.

Results: A total of 119 consecutive patients met our inclusion criteria. The median was age 41.5 years, and 52.5% were female. The mean follow-up period was 2.3 years (7 months to 6 years). There were 110 (92.44%) supratentorial and 9 (7.56%) infratentorial craniotomies. Postoperative CSF leak was reported in 2 patients (1.68%), one in each cohort. Postoperative infection occurred in one patient (0.84%).

Conclusion: The results suggest that using Hemopatch^® as a dural sealant in cranial surgery is effective and safe. After supra-/infratentorial craniotomies, the rate of postoperative adverse events in our sample was within the range of known surgical revision rates. Future randomized clinical studies are required to confirm our encouraging findings.