Treatment of Hydrocephalus Secondary to Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Using Lumboperitoneal Shunt as First-line Procedure

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluated the results of treatment for hydrocephalus secondary to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) using a lumboperitoneal shunt (LPS) as a first-line procedure.
Materials and methods: We studied 114 patients with aSAH treated in our institute between July 2012 and June 2014. Of these, 39 patients who underwent shunt placements were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: An LPS was placed in 18 patients (46.2%) and a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) in 21 (53.8%). An LPS was placed in 9 of 23 patients (39.1%) who had undergone coil embolization and in 9 of 16 (56.3%) who had undergone clipping or coating of aneurysms. LPS was preferentially chosen over VPS for patients who were younger, and those with intraventricular hemorrhage and a longer interval between the onset of aSAH and shunt placement. There was no significant difference in shunt efficacy and symptomatic surgical complications between the two procedures. Hemorrhagic complications or intracerebral hemorrhage along the ventricular catheter tract developed in two patients receiving aspirin after VPS following coil embolization.
Conclusion: LPS was as safe and effective as VPS for the treatment of hydrocephalus secondary to aSAH.