ObjectiveTo study the effects and complications of cranioplasty in patients with persistent vegetative state(PVS) at different time windows. Methods223 patients with PVS who underwent decompressive craniectomy(DC) in the department of neurosurgery at the 7th Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from January 2013 to December 2017 were collected. The recovery of consciousness, intracranial pressure, hemoglobin and albumin were counted before and after the operation at different time windows, the changes before and after the operation were analyzed, and the complications of patients at different time windows were compared. ResultsThe improvement of CRS-R score in patients with cranioplasty(early stage group) was 2.3 points better than other groups. The decrease of albumin in the blood of late stage repair group(5.98±3.21)g/L was the most in the three groups, and the decrease of albumin in the middle stage group was(4.53±2.66)g/L which was the last in the three groups, indicating that the influence of cranioplasty on albumin in PVS patients was little at 3 to 6 months. The hemoglobin decreased the most in the early stage group, which was(4.96±1.54)g/L, whereas the hemoglobin decreased least in the late stage group, which was(2.51±5.34)g/L. The patient's intracranial pressure increased after cranioplasty, (22.14±55.51)mm H2O in the early stage group, (67.13±45.30)mm H2O in the middle stage group and the minimum increase in the late group. The late stage group had the most surgical complications, but there was no statistical difference between the early repair group and the middle repair group. ConclusionPVS patients with stable state should undergo cranioplasty as soon as possible, which can improve the cortical hemodynamics of skull defects and improve the distribution of cerebrospinal fluid circulation pressure, and is beneficial to the recovery of consciousness level and functional recovery of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]