Spontaneous Umbilical Cerebrospinal Fluid Fistula due to Transdermal Dislocation of the Ventriculoperitoneal Distal Shunt Ending – A Case Report^[*]

Introduction

Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement is the most common procedure in the treatment of non-obstructive hydrocephalus. The most serious complications of this treatment are disconnection, breaking, kinking and tip occlusion of the tube, shunt infection, intestinal obstruction, migration of the shunt catheter, and the perforation of internal organs.[1] [4] [9] [12] In addition, the literature illustrates a few extremely unusual complications,[4] [5] [9] [13] such as skin fistula in the thoracic or umbilical region. Thus, we report on a rare case of secondary transumbilical peritoneal shunt perforation after VPS placement in a patient with normal-pressure hydrocephalus.

^* This article was originally published online in Central European Neurosurgery on January 16, 2012 (DOI:10.1055/s-0031-1286263)

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