Ventricular drainage to save ventricular hemorrhage

  Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a syndrome caused by the rupture of intracranial vessels and the entry of blood into the ventricular system due to non-traumatic factors. Its incidence is high and increasing year by year, accounting for about 20%-60% of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage. Intraventricular hemorrhage is often divided into two categories: primary intraventricular hemorrhage (PIVH) and secondary intraventricular hemorrhage (SIVH), with common causes such as hypertensive atherosclerosis, intracranial aneurysm, cerebral arteriovenous malformation, and smog. Intraventricular hemorrhage is a dangerous emergency, with an acute onset and a high mortality rate for severe ventricular hemorrhage, and the efficacy of either conservative treatment or simple ventricular drainage is not satisfactory. The clinical manifestations are generally severe headache, frequent vomiting and other symptoms of intracranial hypertension, and in severe cases, severe consciousness impairment and vegetative dysfunction may occur. The more ventricular hemorrhage there is, the lower the survival rate of patients. The main factors affecting life prognosis depend on the degree of ventricular blood accumulation and cerebrospinal fluid circulation obstruction. Some studies have shown that the degree of ventricular dilatation is linearly and positively correlated with the volume of the initial intraventricular blood clot, and early ventricular dilatation is caused by the direct dilating effect of intraventricular blood clot, which can further cause ventricular canal injury and worsen ventricular dilatation. In the later stage, the obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid absorption and the dissolution of blood clots can cause further ventricular dilatation. Therefore, timely removal of intracerebroventricular blood accumulation and promotion of smooth cerebrospinal fluid circulation is the key to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate and improve the quality of survival of patients.  Because of the simple extraventricular drainage, the blood accumulation often forms cast clots and clots block the drainage tube, resulting in poor drainage and failure to achieve the purpose of drainage. In addition, although the clot can dissolve on its own, it takes a long time, and the persistence of the clot not only can make the ventricle continuously dilate, but also can directly cause cerebrospinal fluid circulation disorder and decomposition and release of toxic substances to cause a series of related brain damage. Lateral ventricular puncture and placement of urokinase lavage to dissolve the clot and lumbar pool placement of continuous drainage can urgently relieve hydrocephalus and ventricular expansion, reduce intracranial pressure, remove some of the ventricular blood accumulation as early as possible, rapidly dissolve the hematoma, open the ventricular pathway, relieve cerebrospinal fluid obstruction, relieve the pressure of the enlarged ventricles III and IV on the surrounding important brain tissues, and improve the microcirculation around them according to the patient’s condition under general anesthesia or The lateral ventriculotomy with less bleeding or bilateral lateral ventriculotomy with external drainage is performed under local anesthesia. The anterior horn of the lateral ventricle is punctured, and a sterile intravenous infusion tube with an internal diameter of 1 mm is placed 1.5-2.5 cm deep in the ventricle, after which about 200 ml of saline dissolved with urokinase 40-100,000 u is slowly dripped into the ventricle at a controlled rate of 2-4 drops/min. Urokinase and the number of days of drainage were determined according to the intracerebroventricular blood accumulation, the amount of drainage and color change, and the intracerebroventricular drainage tube was generally removed in about 1 week. During this period, the patient’s condition was closely observed, and the cranial CT was immediately rechecked if necessary. The patency of the extraventricular drainage tube is the key to whether the clot can be dissolved as soon as possible, and the patency of the continuous external drainage tube from the lumbar pool puncture placement is the key to whether the bloody cerebrospinal fluid can be drained and the cerebrospinal fluid circulation promoted as soon as possible. To avoid blockage of the ventricular drainage tube by blood clots, bilateral external ventricular drainage is feasible if necessary; pay special attention to the drainage process to prevent blockage and keep the drainage open, as well as the possibility of rebleeding due to excessive drainage; adjust the drainage height according to the changes of intracranial pressure and drainage flow.  After the clot is basically cleared by cranial CT review, the extraventricular drainage tube should be removed in time to avoid the possibility of intracranial infection. In the treatment because ventricular hemorrhage itself can cause serious brain damage and produce serious complications such as severe impaired consciousness, central hyperthermia, stress ulcers, infection, and disturbance of water-electrolyte acid-base balance, active control of the original disease and prevention and treatment of complications should be carried out at the same time of drainage. Ventriculoperitoneal drainage is feasible for those with residual hydrocephalus symptoms.  Hypertension and aneurysm are the two main causes of secondary ventricular hemorrhage, among which hypertensive intraventricular hemorrhage with hemorrhage in the thalamus and basal ganglia breaking into the ventricles is common, and aneurysmal ventricular hemorrhage with anterior communicating artery aneurysm is common. Therefore, after the patient’s condition has stabilized, cerebral angiography (DSA) should be performed to rule out the possibility of intracranial aneurysm if available. If aneurysmal hemorrhage is suspected, avoid rebleeding of the aneurysm due to excessive drainage. If intracerebral hemorrhage is the main cause of hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage, the intracerebral hematoma must be treated first.  This treatment adopts lateral ventricular and lumbar pool puncture to lavage and drainage, while intra-lateral ventricular drips of urokinase dissolve the clot, which can promptly clear the accumulated blood in the ventricular system, promote the smooth circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, reduce the stimulation of meninges and cerebral vessels, improve the success rate of rescue and reduce complications. The author believes that the method of ventricular puncture placement of urokinase lavage to dissolve blood clots and continuous drainage of lumbar pool placement is one of the effective methods to treat intraventricular hemorrhage. This method is a relatively simple, less damaging, more effective, safe and feasible treatment for ventricular hemorrhage.