Introduction: Aga Khan University Hospital Neurosurgery Department has evolved into a high-volume centre for treatment of neurosurgical diseases. We aimed to compare the relative outcomes of intracranial tumors and CNS infections seen at our facility.
Methods: Hospital records of patients admitted under the neurosurgery service between 1994-2003 were evaluated. Cases with a principal diagnosis of an intracranial lesion were identified for further study. Demographic, clinical,and surgical variables were extracted from the medical record. Length of hospital stay, ICU utilization, and in-hospital mortality were the primary outcome indicators. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and comparisons of meansand proportions.
Results: The mortality rate was 8.7% for intracranial tumors and 18.8% for intracranial infections. Average age for tumor patients was 39.4 years and 26.5 years for patients with infections. Male predominance was seen in the tumor group (55%; p=0.02) and marginally in the infection group (51.6%; p=0.52). Mortality, length of stay and ICU utilization did not decrease significantly in either group over the ten-year period of our study. In both groups, electively admitted patients were associated with better outcomes as compared to emergent admissions.
Conclusion: There is a need for better awareness and education among referring physicians to be on the lookout for patients requiring early neurosurgical referral. Careful selection of patients for surgical intervention should be practiced to ensure low mortality rates and more meaningful outcomes