Pediatric External Ventricular Drain Infection: Experience from a Tertiary Care Hospital of Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of external ventricular drain Infection in a pediatric population presenting with hydrocephalus.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Liaquat University of Medical  & Health Sciences Hyerabad, Sindh, Pakistan for the period of one year from 30^th June 2019 to 30^thJune 2020 after approval from the Ethical review committee Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Hyerabad, Sindh, Pakistan.

Materials and Methods: A total of 91 patients were included in this study. Demographic information like age, gender, the weight of the child and duration of symptoms and positive culture were taken as EVD infection. All the data were analyzed in SPSS version 22.0.

Results: EVD infection was in 13(14.3%) patients 78(85.7%) patients have no infection. Mean age7.14 was with standard deviation 3.965 and the weight of the children was 17.5±4.98 (in kg).41 (45.1%) patients were male and 50(54.9%) were female. the proportion of females was more than male.

Conclusion: EVD is a popular neurochirurgical technique used to treat a range of neurochirurgical conditions like hydrocephalus.A clearly defined guideline on different aspects of integration and maintenance can be a useful approach for reducing the frequency of EVD-related infections.