Shunt migration [Neurosurgery Wiki]

In 137 patients undergoing 157 new VP shunt procedures with an average age of 57.7±standard deviation of 18.4years old. There were 16 distal shunt migrations. Body mass index >30kg/m(2) and number of previous shunt procedures were found to be independent risk factors for distal catheter migration. Obesity and number of previous shunt procedures were factors for distal catheter migration. Providers and patients should be aware of these possible risk factors prior to VP shunt placement ¹⁾.

Skadorwa and Ciszek, present two cases of traumatic intracranial migration of the ventriculoperitoneal (VPS) valve chamber without malfunction of the system. In both patients, a shunt reservoir was surgically repositioned without a burr hole expansion and with no implantation of a new VPS system. They discuss a role of a head trauma and repeated valve palpation in this rare complication ²⁾.

¹⁾

Abode-Iyamah KO, Khanna R, Rasmussen ZD, Flouty O, Dahdaleh NS, Greenlee J, Howard MA 3rd. Risk factors associated with distal catheter migration following ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement. J Clin Neurosci. 2016 Mar;25:46-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2015.07.022. Epub 2015 Nov 6. PubMed PMID: 26549674.

²⁾

Skadorwa T, Ciszek B. Traumatic intracranial displacement of the ventriculoperitoneal valve chamber in a child-a report of 2 cases. Childs Nerv Syst. 2017 Jan 6. doi: 10.1007/s00381-016-3312-y. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28062894.