Oh, what a time to be alive! In the groundbreaking world of poking around the human brain via the nose, researchers have stumbled upon a rare gem: the elusive Chronic Subdural Hematoma (CSDH) post-Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery (EES). With the precision of a toddler stacking blocks, they’ve decided to dive deep into the “what ifs” and “how comes” of this phenomenon, because, you know, the detailed clinical picture was as clear as mud.

Armed with the mighty CT scanner, our intrepid scientists embarked on a retrospective safari, hunting through the medical records of patients who had the pleasure of experiencing EES between November 2016 and December 2022. Their quarry? The mysterious air pockets known as pneumocephalus, which apparently decided to throw a post-surgery party in patients’ heads. And oh, they didn’t just glance at these air pockets; they measured them with the enthusiasm of a kid with a new ruler, dividing them into the “local” and “remote” categories because, obviously, air pockets adhere to social distancing too.

Out of 159 brave souls who underwent EES, a whopping 6 (hold your applause) developed CSDH, making it as common as finding a four-leaf clover. And guess what? All of these rare unicorns had two things in common: a Grade 3 CSF leakage (because go big or go home, right?) and a penchant for hosting air pocket parties in the convexity of their brains. Through the magic of statistics, the researchers found that if your brain’s air pocket party is larger than 10 cm², you might just be lucky enough to develop CSDH, with odds that are slightly better than flipping a coin.

In conclusion, if you’re one of the chosen few who get to have EES, and your post-op brain decides to inflate like a balloon, you might want to keep an eye on it. But don’t worry, the incidence of turning into a medical curiosity post-EES is “acceptably low.” So, sleep tight knowing that your brain’s air pockets are probably just there for a good time, not a long time.