Antibiotic prophylaxis for shunt surgery of children: a systematic review.
OBJECTIVE
The object of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis in children who underwent placement of intracranial ventricular shunts.


METHODS
In this paper, the authors report a systematic review and meta-analysis of infection rate for pediatric shunt implantation surgery. Randomized or non-randomized controlled trials for comparing the use of prophylactic antibiotics in intracranial ventricular shunt procedures with placebo or no antibiotics were included in the review.


RESULTS
Seven published reports of eligible studies involving 694 participants meet the inclusion criteria. Compared with the control group, antibiotic prophylaxis had made a significant difference in infection rate (RR = 0.59, 95% CI = 0.38, 0.90, P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Although current evidence demonstrates that antibiotic prophylaxis can lead to a significant reduction of the infection rate of shunt surgery, more evidence from advanced multi-center studies is needed to provide instruction for the use of prophylactic antibiotics.
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
H
H
Xu
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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F
Hu
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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H
Hu
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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W
Sun
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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W
Jiao
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
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R
Li
Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. tony_xuhao@163.com.
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T
Lei
D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis / Q000379:methods*; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
Antibiotic prophylaxis; Meta-analysis; Pediatric neurosurgery; Shunt infection; Systematic review; VP shunt