Ventriculo peritoneal shunts in children. A ten year experience at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu-Nigeria.

In a ten year period (1977--1986) one hundred and fifty children with hydrocephalus who received ventriculo-peritoneal shunt as their modality of treatment were followed up. Seventy-one per cent of these children were neonates and infants, the majority of them presenting within the first 3 months of onset of symptoms and signs. The major causes of hydrocephalus in these children were congenital malformations, meningitis, tumours and trauma. Pudenz shunt systems were favoured in the 1977--81 period, while 1982--86 period witnessed an upsurge of self devised catheters because of dwindling national economy. The latter were cheaper and more readily available. Apart from blockage of shunts which occurred more in self devised catheters, the performance of these catheters in terms of shunt infections and other complications were same in both self devised and conventional catheters. The main complications encountered were blockage and infection of the shunts, while rare complications included migration and extrusion of shunts to and from the peritoneal cavity, CSF ascites and recurrent abdominal cysts.