• Andrew R Stevens, Helen Gilbody, Julian Greig, John Usuah, Basit Alagbe, Anne Preece, Wai Cheong Soon, Yasir A Chowdhury, Emma Toman, Ramesh Chelvarajah, Tonny Veenith, Antonio Belli, and David J Davies.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK; National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre (SRMRC), University Hospitals Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK; Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK. Electronic address: a.stevens@bham.ac.uk.
• World Neurosurg. 2023 Aug 1; 176: e265e272e265-e272.

BackgroundDiversion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a common neurosurgical procedure for control of intracranial pressure (ICP) in the acute phase after traumatic brain injury (TBI), where medical management is insufficient. CSF can be drained via an external ventricular drain (EVD) or, in selected patients, via a lumbar (external lumbar drain [ELD]) drainage catheter. Considerable variability exists in neurosurgical practice on their use.MethodsA retrospective service evaluation was completed for patients receiving CSF diversion for ICP control after TBI, from April 2015 to August 2021. Patients were included whom fulfilled local criteria deeming them suitable for either ELD/EVD. Data were extracted from patient notes, including ICP values pre/postdrain insertion and safety data including infection or clinically/radiologically diagnosed tonsillar herniation.ResultsForty-one patients were retrospectively identified (ELD = 30 and EVD = 11). All patients had parenchymal ICP monitoring. Both modalities affected statistically significant decreases in ICP, with relative reductions at 1, 6, and 24 hour pre/postdrainage (at 24-hour ELD P < 0.0001, EVD P < 0.01). Similar rates of ICP control failure, blockage and leak occurred in both groups. A greater proportion of patients with EVD were treated for CSF infection than with ELD. One event of clinical tonsillar herniation is reported, which may have been in part attributable to ELD overdrainage, but which did not result in adverse outcome.ConclusionsThe data presented demonstrate that EVD and ELD can be successful in ICP control after TBI, with ELD limited to carefully selected patients with strict drainage protocols. The findings support prospective study to formally determine the relative risk-benefit profiles of CSF drainage modalities in TBI.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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