Abstract
Two patients with abdominal pseudocysts as a complication of peritoneal shunt were reported and a review of the literature relating to this complication was presented.
Each patient had a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt 3 years previously for normal pressure hydrocephalus. Vomiting and abdominal distention were noted. There was no symptoms or signs of increased intracranial pressure. One patient, Case 1, had a left epidural abscess and one previous shunt revision. The other, Case 2, had no history of prior abdominal surgery or shunt infection and the shunt was converted to a ventriculoarterial diversion. Abdominal pseudocysts are not a common complicaton of peritoneal shunt procedures. In this clinic only 2 (0.9%) of 228 peritoneal shunts, which was performed for the treatment of normal pressure hydrocephalus in the past 5 years, developed this complication.
Forty-one cases of abdominal pseudocysts have been reported in the literature. All except one case had abdominal symptoms and/or symptoms of increased intracranial pressure on admission. The clinical signs developed as late as 5 years after catheter insertion, but frequently within 6 months. Associated shunt infection and previous intra-abdominal surgery appeared to be the most constant and related causes in the formation of the pseudocyst. Cerebrospinal fluid shunt into another cavity was considered to be the most reliable treatment of this complication.
