Timing of skull defect repair

Most of the cranial defects are medical defects, such as after decompression of skull crush fracture, intracranial hematoma cerebral contusion, and decompression of hypertensive cerebral hemorrhage. The defect site in the frontal and top part of the head will affect the aesthetics due to collapse, and some have symptoms such as headache and dizziness; especially obvious when turning the head or doing supine movements, which may be related to the change of intracranial pressure. If the skull defect is more than 3 cm and there are symptoms such as headache and dizziness, skull defect repair should be performed. The timing of cranial defect repair is usually as early as 3 months after surgery. Surgery is performed 1 month after surgery abroad. A history of infection should be repaired after 1 year postoperatively to prevent infection. Cranial repair surgery is not very difficult and less dangerous. Currently, artificial repair materials such as titanium plates are generally used, and digital titanium plates that can be shaped according to the three-dimensional reconstruction design of the skull can be consistent with the shape of the defective part and have good aesthetics. The main risk of surgery is postoperative infection. Once infected, the titanium plate should be taken out again; the operation should be operated aseptically and try not to break the dura.