Endovascular Embolization for Chronic Subdural Hematomas Following Surgical Evacuation

This study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of endovascular embolization of middle meningeal artery following evacuation of subdural hematomas (SDHs) to assess rate of recurrence. The historical standard for treatment of subdural hematomas has been surgical evacuation through burr holes or craniotomies. Many of these patients are elderly patients who are high risk surgical candidates. A major concern is SDH recurrence. Recurrences require frequent imaging, and will lead to increased length of hospital stay, increased morbidity,and re-operations. There are increasing number of reports that suggest that a less invasive approach such as endovascular embolization of the middle meningeal artery using standard endovascular materials and techniques may reduce the risk of recurrence. The reported outcomes in the current literature have been very positive when endovascular embolization has been used without surgery or as an adjuvant to surgery. However, there have been no studies directly comparing endovascular embolization following surgical evacuation to assess if this technique can actually reduce the complications of SDHs listed above. The investigators propose to study this treatment process by randomly assigning patients who have undergone surgical evacuation of SDHs into a control and treatment group. The control group will receive standard surgical evacuation of the hematoma. The study group will receive surgical evacuation followed by endovascular embolization.