Secondary penetration of a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt into the intestines. Possible cause of a recurring sepsis?
Woltmann, A.; Boeden, G.; Diaz, A.; Ortloff-Kittredge, P.
Der Anaesthesist 40(6): 347-349
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-2417 PMID: 1883061 Document Number: 376927
We present a 28-year-old-patient with a severe head injury: skull fractures, epidural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, Glasgow coma score 7, and aspiration following a motorbike accident. A systemic infection with symptoms of shock and Staphylococcus aureus in blood culture specimens developed a few days after admission (later Staphylococcus epidermidis was also cultured). A posttraumatic hydrocephalus was treated by a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt inserted at mini-laparotomy. In multiple microbiological and cytological tests the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was always sterile. Enterocolitis occurred with Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus aureus in stool cultures. After 6 months' intractable sepsis the patient died with multiple-system failure. Autopsy revealed secondary displacement of the shunt catheter into the intestinal lumen. A possible ascending infection was found in the form of a cerebral ventricular empyema. However, prior to death there was no specific clinical sign of peritonitis or encephalitis or a positive microbiological or cytological CSF findings. Despite insertion of a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt under visual control, this case shows that secondary displacement of the peritoneal extremity into the bowel can occur, which may cause a cerebral and eventually a systemic infection. CSF examinations may fail to show contamination; specific clinical signs may be absent or, with multiple-system failure, misleading. An autopsy is generally to be recommended as it contributes to a better understanding of the clinical problems in most cases.