Treatment of infected ventricular shunts.
25 shunt infections following 23 vascular and 2 peritoneal shunts are reviewed, thus enlarging a previous review. Intraventricular administration of antibiotics are essential to reach the CSF beyond the blood-SF barrier, the tubing and the valve. Methicillin in dosages of 25-50 mg/day, intraventricularly combined with systemic therapy, have been used most often in this series. The only death in this series occurred when the infection was cured. The remaining 24 have no evidence of residual infection following 6 months to 5 years. Only 14 have had shunt removal. The results indicate that shunt removal should not be the initial means of treating infected shunts.
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents