Individuals undergoing cranioplasty may encounter persistent functional impairments. Quality-of-life (QoL) assessment to address this is essential. This study aims to evaluate the long-term improvement in QoL after a cranioplasty at our center.

In this observational, retrospective study, we assessed the QoL of patients who underwent cranioplasty and could be contacted by our research team. QoL was evaluated using EuroQol-5D-3L and SF-36 scales through phone interviews. We evaluated QoL changes at 3, 6 and 12 months. Friedman’s test and repeated measures ANOVA were used to assess QoL improvement through time. An exploratory analysis to search for possible modifiers of QoL improvement was conducted.

We included 28 patients with a median age of 30 (IQR 20−52) years, of whom 19 (79.2%) had a history of trauma. Twenty (71.4%) patients underwent cranioplasty with custom-made 3D-modeled implants. Long-term improvements in general QoL were observed in mobility, self-care, usual activities and pain/discomfort (p < 0.001). Improvement in SF-36 scores showed significant mean differences in role limitations due to physical health (−32.14, 95% CI −50.37 to −13.91; p < 0.001), role limitations due to emotional problems (−21.43, 95% CI −38.5 to −4.35; p = 0.010) and pain (−9.65, 95% CI −16.36 to −2.93; p = 0.003). There were no significant modifiers of QoL improvement.

This study showed promising results about QoL improvement experienced by patients with low-cost customized implants. Further research is necessary to preserve clinical and self-reported improvement and conduct patient-centered neurosurgical care.