The retrospective analysis of the results of surgical treatment of 1869 patients with various neurosurgical abnormalities of the brain who were operated on at the N. N. Burdenko Research Institute of Neurosurgery, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, for two randomly chosen years has ascertained that there is a common severe complication due to the use of self-held retractors--formation of a hemorrhagic infarct area in the brain region exposed to traction. The analysis has indicated that the highest incidence of the complication was observed in patients with abnormalities of the chiasmal and cellular regions and the middle cranial fossa. The complication was absent in patients with aneurysms of the anterior areas of the Willis circle.