study of complications seen in 300 cases of ventriculo peritoneal shunts managed at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan

ABSTRACT

The objective of the study is to assess, the postoperative complications of 300 hydrocephalic patients, operated with ventriculo peritoneal shunting system. This is a retrospective study, carried out in the department of Neurosurgery Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. 300 patients including both adults [20.3%] and children [79.6%] with various causes of hydrocephalus were operated upon. All patients underwent a neurological and radiological assessment, and all those patients who had clinical and radiological evidence of hydrocephalus and were fit for surgery, were operated. All patients underwent a ventriculo peritoneal shunt placement. The follow up of the patients was for six months and all the complications were noted and dealt with. The common cause of hydrocephalus seen in children was Aequeductal stenosis, followed by post meningitis hydrocephalus, whereas in adults, trauma and tumours were responsible for the disease. Most common complication seen in our study was shunt blockade [33%] followed by wound infection and meningitis [23%].The study was to identify complication rate of ventriculoperitoneal shunt in our setup. Inspite of low socioeconomic setup and poor hygiene our results are still comparable to some foreign studies