Frequency of infection associated with ventriculo-peritoneal shunt placement.

Objective: To compare the frequency of infection in protocol-based and random ventriculo-peritoneal shunt placement in patients with hydrocephalus.

Methods: The prospective, observational study was conducted at Civil Hospital, Karachi, from October 2014 to March 2015, and comprised patients having ventriculo-peritoneal shunt placement who were randomly categorised into Group A that had protocol-based procedure and Group B that had random shunt placement. All patients were followed up for six months to record final outcomes after surgery. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to document findings. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis.

Results: Of the 210 patients, there were 105(50%) each in the two groups, overall having 117(55.7%) boys and 93(44.3%) girls. The frequency of infection was 8(7.6%) in Group A and 19(18.1%) in Group B (p<0.05).

Conclusions: With a meticulous surgical technique and modifications to the pre-, intra-, and postoperative care, it is possible to significantly reduce the incidence of shunt infection.