Collins, CDE;
Hartley, JC;
Chakraborty, A;
Thompson, DNP;
(2014)
Long subcutaneous tunnelling reduces infection rates in paediatric external ventricular drains.
Child's Nervous System
, 30
(10)
pp. 1671-1678.
10.1007/s00381-014-2523-3.
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Abstract
Purpose The aim of this study is to report the efficacy of long subcutaneous tunnelling of external ventricular drains in reducing rates of infection and catheter displacement in a paediatric population. Methods In children requiring external ventricular drainage, a long-tunnelled drain was placed and managed according to a locally agreed guideline. End points were novel CSF infection incurred during the time of drainage and re-operation to re-site displaced catheters. Data were compared to other published series. Results One hundred eighty-one long-tunnelled external ventricular drains (LTEVDs) were inserted. The mean age was 6.6 years (range 0-15.5 years). Reasons for insertion included intraventricular haemorrhage (47 %), infection (27 %), tumour-related hydrocephalus (7.2 %), as a temporising measure (17 %) and trauma (2.2 %). The overall new infection rate for LTEVD was 2.76 %. If the 48 cases where LTEVDs were inserted to treat an existing infection are excluded, the infection rate was 3.8 % (5/133). The mean duration of insertion was 10 days (range 0-42 days). Four LTEVDs (2.2 %) were inadvertently dislodged, requiring reinsertion. Thirteen patients required removal of EVD alone.There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) when comparing our infection rate to 14 publications of infection rates in short-tunnelled EVDs; however, there was no difference when comparing our data to three publications using LTEVDs. Conclusion The use of an antibiotic-impregnated LTEVD, managed according to a predefined guideline, is associated with significantly reduced infection and displacement rates when compared with contemporary series. It is suggested that this reduction is of both clinical and economic benefits.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Long subcutaneous tunnelling reduces infection rates in paediatric external ventricular drains |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00381-014-2523-3 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00381-014-2523-3 |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. |
| Keywords: | EVD, Ventricular drain, Infection, Hydrocephalus, Tunnelled Ventriculostomy. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Neurosciences Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1466479 |
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