Clinical Characteristics and Treatment of Early and Delayed Intra-Ccranial Infection After Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt in Adults: Retrospective Analysis of Nineteen Cases

Objectives: Intra-cranial infection is the most serious complication after ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS). There were differences in clinical characteristics between early (occurs within one month after VPS, the early group) and delayed (occurs 1 month or more after VPS, the delayed group) infections. The aim of this study is to clarify the differences between the two groups. Patients and Methods: All cases diagnosed as intracranial infection after VPS between September 2017 and December 2021 were collected. Clinical data were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. Results: Nineteen cases met the inclusion criteria, including 12 cases in the early group and seven cases in the delayed group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in gender, age, and etiology of hydrocephalus. Cases in the early group usually had fever with worsening consciousness (11; 91.7%), which was caused by surgical operations (10; 83.3%) with gram-positive coccis infection (9; 75.0%), whereas those in the delayed group had abdominal pain (5; 71.4%), caused by abdominal factor (7; 100%) with gram-negative bacilli infection (6; 85.7%). There were differences in symptoms ( p