Surgical treatment strategies for infection after hydrocephalus shunt surgery

Abstract

For infections after hydrocephalus shunt surgery, despite a series of guidelines and consensus recommendations, the actual treatment strategies given by different doctors still vary greatly. A considerable proportion of physicians will carry out conservative treatment for various considerations. The author reports a case of a patient with shunt infection and abdominal end obstruction who underwent conservative treatment. Initially, because antibiotic treatment was considered effective, only surgery to deal with the abdominal end obstruction of the shunt was performed. Later, due to poor infection control, long-channel external ventricular drainage was performed. After the infection was controlled, ventriculoatrial shunting was performed again. This case is shared to illustrate the complexity of decision-making for shunt infection management, briefly discuss the possibility of conservative management, and introduce the long-channel external ventricular drainage technique for safe clearance of infected cerebrospinal fluid. [International Journal of Neurology and Neurosurgery, 2021, 48(6):546-550.]