Minimally invasive approaches for the evacuation of intracerebral hemorrhage: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Minimally-invasive surgery (MIS) has been increasingly used in recent years. We systematically reviewed the role of MIS in the acute management of ICH using various techniques.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A comprehensive electronic search for relevant articles was conducted on several relevant international databases, including PUBMED (Medline), EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL).

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Our primary literature research resulted in 1134 articles. In total, 116 publications finally met the eligibility criteria to be included in our systematic review. Five major MIS categories for the evacuation of ICH were identified, respectively: minimally invasive direct aspiration with or without thrombolytics, endoscope assisted technique, sonothrombolysis, aspiration-irrigation device and endoport-assisted evacuation.

CONCLUSIONS: The role of minimally invasive techniques in the management of ICH remains under dispute. However, a mounting evidence in the literature demonstrates that MIS is associated with significantly improved outcomes when compared with conservative treatment and conventional surgical evacuation strategy.