• Anthony M Burrows, Meghan E Murphy, David J Daniels, and Fredric B Meyer.
• Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2016 May 1; 89: 108-11.

BackgroundShunt infections are a major complication following ventricular shunts in adults that lead to increased heath care costs, patient morbidity, and mortality. Methods to decrease shunt infection include antibiotic-impregnated catheters, protocol-based surgery, and shunt reservoir antibiotic injection.MethodsAn Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective review was performed for all adult shunt surgeries performed from January 2000 to September 2013 at a single academic institution. Records were cross-indexed with hospital billing records to identify patients who received antibiotic injections and cross-referenced with a prospective infection control database of all surgical site infections. The primary outcome measure was shunt infection within 1 year of surgery.ResultsFive-hundred thirteen adult patients met inclusion criteria. Antibiotic reservoir injection was associated with a significantly lower rate of infection (2.6%) when compared with no injection (6.3%, P = 0.0455). The antibiotic injection group also included significantly more patients with infection risk factors than the control group (38.8% vs. 18.0%, P < 0.005).ConclusionAntibiotic reservoir injection is an effective method of reducing shunt infections in adults when combined with standard infection control measures.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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