ArticleChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2023
The role of surgery in relieving calcified shunt site-related pain in patients with functioning VP shunt.
Article in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Revisiting the disabling potential of calcified ventriculoperitoneal shunt tubing causing intractable neck pain with a novel technique for operative excision: illustrative case.Journal of neurosurgery. Case lessons · 2026Article
- Extensive Calcification of a Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Causing Late Mechanical Failure in a Child.Cureus · 2026Article
- Torticollis as a rare, late complication of VP shunt placement in the pediatric population: a case report.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2024Article
- Can diffuse reflectance spectroscopy identify shuntodynia in pediatric hydrocephalus patients?Journal of biomedical optics · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeShunt calcification is a known late sequela of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt insertion and is associated with shunt malfunction. However, in some patients, while shunt functionality is preserved despite calcification of the catheters, they experience nociceptive symptoms. In this paper, the authors present their surgical experience in managing patients with a functional VP shunt and experiencing pain secondary to shunt calcification.
methodsWe analysed outcomes of patients presenting with pain at the level of a calcified shunt who underwent surgical untethering of the calcified catheter from the soft tissues. This procedure was commenced by the senior author in 2015. Patients were collected prospectively from the databases of two institutions. Evidence of shunt calcification was confirmed on neuroimaging.
resultsSeven patients, two male and five female, were included. The mean age at untethering was 13.5 years. The mean time interval between primary shunt surgery and symptom onset was 12 years (range 6-16 years). The commonest site of tethering was the neck (50%) followed by abdomen and chest (both 25%). Six patients underwent untethering of the catheter from soft tissues. One patient had removal of a redundant segment of calcified shunt left in situ during a previous revision. All patients experienced pain relief following shunt untethering.
conclusionUntethering of calcified VP shunt catheters from soft tissue can be considered an effective treatment of shunt site pain and offered to patients presenting with a functional VP shunt.
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