Sterile surgical technique for shunt placement reduces the shunt infection rate in children: preliminary analysis of a prospective protocol in 115 consecutive procedures

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the rigid application of a sterile protocol for shunt placement was applicable on a routine basis and allowed the reduction of shunt infections (SI) in children. Since 2001, a rigid sterile protocol for shunt placement in children using neither antibiotic-impregnated catheters nor laminar airflow was prospectively applied at Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium. For assessing the protocol efficacy before continuation, we preliminarily analyzed the results of the first 100 operated children (43 females, 57 males, 49 aged