Laparoscopic revision of the distally obstructed ventriculoperitoneal shunt.

AIM Evaluation of the laparoscopic assisted revision of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt as an alternative technique to the traditional laparotomy. MATERIAL AND METHODS Out of 1181 elective neurosurgical procedures have been done from January 2009 to December 2010. There are 98 (8.2%) ventriculoperitoneal shunt procedures. New shunt insertion was performed 41 times (41.9%) and shunt revision performed 57 times (58.1%). Shunt-related infection was detected in 11 cases (11.22%) while mechanical failure was found in 46 cases (46.9%), proximal obstruction was diagnosed in 26 cases (26.5 %) while 20 patients (20.4%) suffered from distal obstruction. Out of the 20 patients with distal obstruction, 12 patients were treated with laparoscopic assisted revision of the peritoneal end. RESULTS Intra operative finding revealed peritoneal adhesion in 83.3% of cases and cerebrospinal fluid pseudo cyst in 16.6% while extra peritoneal tube was found in one case. Intraoperative management included adhesiolysis in 10 patient, evacuation and marsupialization of the cyst in two cases in addition to tube repositioning in all cases. There was no procedure-related complications. CONCLUSION Laparoscopic assisted revision of the peritoneal catheter is an alternative technique to traditional laparotomy in the revision of ventriculoperitoneal shunt.