REFRACTORY DIARRHEA PROVOKED BY A VENTRICULOPERITONEAL SHUNT TUBE: REPORT OF A CASE

Abstract

The reported abdominal complications of ventricnloperitoneal (VP) shunt surgery include infections, kinking or occlusion of the shunt tube, intraperitoneal cyst, ascites, and penetration of viscera by the shunt tube. We encountered a patient with persistent refractory diarrhea after VP shunt revision, whose symptoms improved after removal of the intrape-ritoneal shunt tube. No other possible causes of the patient's diarrhea were detected, so the symptoms seemed to be attributable to colonic irritability secondary to direct mechanical stimulation by the VP shunt tube. This seems to be a very rare case, because diarrhea have not been previously reported as the complications of a VP shunt.