LETTER TO EDITOR
Year : 2019  |  Volume : 14  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 109

A rare cause of vaginal foreign body: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt migration

Ali Korulmaz¹, Mehmet Alakaya¹, Sadık Kaya¹, Vural Hamzaoglu², Özlem Tezol³, Ali E Arslanköylü^1
1 Department of Pediatric Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
² Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey
³ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey

Date of Web Publication

20-Aug-2019

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Ali Korulmaz
Kaleköy Neighborhood 32024, Street No. 6, Narkulesi Site A, Block No. 54, Mezitli/Mersin.
Turkey

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

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DOI: 10.4103/jpn.JPN_172_18

How to cite this article: Korulmaz A, Alakaya M, Kaya S, Hamzaoglu V, Tezol &, Arslanköylü AE. A rare cause of vaginal foreign body: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt migration. J Pediatr Neurosci 2019;14:109

How to cite this URL: Korulmaz A, Alakaya M, Kaya S, Hamzaoglu V, Tezol &, Arslanköylü AE. A rare cause of vaginal foreign body: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt migration. J Pediatr Neurosci [serial online] 2019 [cited 2023 Jun 6];14:109. Available from: https://www.pediatricneurosciences.com/text.asp?2019/14/2/109/264743

Dear Editor

We read about cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in the treatment of children with hydrocephalus in pediatric neurosurgery.^[1] Here, we read with interest the article by Chugh et al.^[2] about abnormal migration and extrusion of the distal end of the ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts. There are many causes of hydrocephalus characterized by excessive CSF deposition in central nervous system because of an imbalance between CSF secretion and absorption. VP shunt is the most commonly used method for the regulation of report a 10-month-old girl with VP shunt who was admitted to emergency room due to foreign body in vagina [Figure 1]. She had also colostomy because of anal atresia opened during neonatal period. She had no other complaints other than vomiting at home. The foreign body was defined as the distal end of the VP shunt by neurosurgeons. That is why the VP shunt was removed and external ventricular drainage was performed.

Figure 1: Distal end of the VP shunt in vagina Click here to view

Peritoneal complications are among the most common causes of VP shunt failure. However, transvaginal migration of VP shunt is extremely rare.^[3] Abdominal surgical interventions increase the risk of such complications. As our patient had a shunt revision when she was 4 months old, and she had received a colostomy due to anal atresia during the newborn period, she had an increased risk for peritoneal complications. Although distal end migration of VP shunt is an exceedingly rare complication, it may lead to significant morbidities and mortalities.^[2] Therefore, we would like to emphasize that the urogenital examination, which is a part of the physical examination needs to be carried out carefully in all patients with VP shunt, especially in cases with previous abdominal surgical interventions.



Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 

References

1.	Kestle JR, Garton HJ, Drake JM: Treatment of hydrocephalus with shunts. Albright AL, Pollack IF, Adelson PD, editors. Principles and practice of pediatric neurosurgery. New York: Thieme; 1999. pp. 75-89.
2.	Chugh A, Gotecha S, Amle G, Patil A, Punia P, Kotecha M Abnormal migration and extrusion of abdominal end of ventriculoperitoneal shunt; an experience of eight cases. J Pediatr Neurosci 2018;13:317-21.
3.	Bonfield CM, Weiner GM, Bradley MS, Engh JA Vaginal extrusion of a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt catheter in an adult. J Neurosci Rural Pract 2015;13:97-9.

Figures

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This article has been cited by 1 Transvaginal Migration of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunts in Children: Review of Literature Shashikanth R Ambati, Suzanne Barry, Adamo A Matthew, Mary Edwards Asian Journal of Neurosurgery. 2022; [Pubmed] | [DOI]