title: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt and the need to remove a gallbladder: Time to definitely overcome the feeling that laparoscopic surgery is contraindicated.
abstract: Since Baskin et al. reported the first documented case of failure of a laparoscopically-induced ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VP) in 1998, the cerebrospinal fluid shunt has been generally considered a relative contraindication to laparoscopy. Although the literature is limited there is a small body of evidence indicating that it is safe to perform laparoscopic surgery on these patients with routine anaesthetic monitoring. In this study we report the case of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the presence of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. A review of the literature suggests that laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be safely performed in patients with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. The only related contraindication should be if a catheter has recently been placed.
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cobianchi
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dominioni
authors.affiliation: University of Milan, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ospedale dei Bambini V. Buzzi, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Filisetti
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zonta
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dionigi
authors.affiliation: University of Pavia, Department of Surgery, Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alessiani
keywords: Entriculoperitoneal shunt; Miniinvasive surgery