This is a Cochrane review protocol whose objective is to evaluate the benefits and harms of embolization of the middle meningeal artery for non-acute subdural hematoma in adults; it reports no results.
The document is a protocol for a Cochrane review of an intervention and does not report any study results or findings on effectiveness or safety.
The primary objective is to evaluate the benefits and harms of middle meningeal artery embolization for non-acute subdural hematoma in adults.
The secondary objectives are to assess equity-related issues through subgroup analyses of the intervention's effects.
This paper is a protocol, meaning a plan for a future systematic review rather than a report of results. The authors set out how they intend to examine whether blocking the middle meningeal artery, a blood vessel supplying the membranes around the brain (a procedure called embolization), helps adults with non-acute (subacute or chronic) subdural hematoma, which is a collection of blood between the brain and its outer coverings. The planned review will look at both benefits and harms of the procedure. The authors also plan to check whether the effects differ by sex, by age (younger versus older adults), and by how well people were functioning before the event, to address fairness and equity concerns. Because no data are presented, this research does not yet say whether the procedure works or is safe. Its value is in setting out in advance how the question will be studied; the findings will come from the completed review.
Rico S, Escobar Liquitay C, Garegnani L, Varela L. (2026). Embolization of the middle meningeal artery for non-acute subdural hematoma.. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD016407