title: [Risk factors for cerebrospinal fluid shunt infection].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Shunt-related infection is a major complication. The effort to face up to this problem has focused on therapy, analysis of risk factors and primary prevention. The aim of this study is to identify risk factors for cerebrospinal fluid shunt infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed all patients who underwent shunt placement at our hospital during the period of study. Procedures followed for less than 90 days were excluded. One hundred and nineteen procedures were included in the final analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Infection rate per procedure was 8.4%. Previous cerebrospinal fluid infection, previous shunt and complete substitution of the shunt were identified as risk factors for infection in the univariate analysis. However, a multivariate analysis confirmed that previous cerebrospinal fluid infection was the only independent risk factor for shunt-related infection (p=0.011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Previous cerebrospinal fluid infection is an independent risk factor for shunt-related infection. Other factors such as age, gender, etiology of hydrocephalus, previous shunt or complete substitution of the shunt were not associated with increased risk of infection.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurocirugía, Hospital Universitario Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, España. rgutierrezgonzalez@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez-González
authors.forename: Gregorio R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Boto
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-Pérez
authors.forename: Náyade Del
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Prado González
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000295:instrumentation; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult