Complications in Patients Undergoing Microsurgical Clipping of Intracranial Aneurysms with Pre-existing Ventriculoperitoneal Shunts Following a Cranial Procedure

Introduction: Patients with ventriculoperitoneal/pleural (VP) shunts occasionally must undergo subsequent craniotomy, craniectomy, or cranioplasty. Due to changes in pressure dynamics following shunt placement, we hypothesized that such patients may have an increased risk of developing symptomatic collections of extra-axial blood, fluid, and/or air postoperatively, leading to longer stays and worse outcomes compared to those undergoing cranial operations without a VP shunt.Methods: From a retrospective cohort of patients who underwent cranial operations for management of cerebral aneurysms in 2005-2014, we identified patients who previously had a VP shunt placed, determined the temporal relationship between shunt placement and cranial operation, and investigated outcomes in those with and without a shunt.

Source: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases - December 20, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Joseph R. Linzey, David Andrew Wilkinson, Jeffrey L. Nadel, Byron Gregory Thompson, Aditya S. Pandey Source Type: research