• Tej D Azad, Yi Zhang, Kunal Varshneya, Anand Veeravagu, John K Ratliff, and Gordon Li.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California.
• Neurosurgery. 2020 Feb 1; 86 (2): 272-280.

BackgroundIdiopathic intracranial hypertension results in increased intracranial pressure leading to headache and visual loss. This disease frequently requires surgical intervention through lumboperitoneal (LP) or ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting.ObjectiveTo compare postoperative outcomes between LP and VP shunts, including failure and complication rates.MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted using a national administrative database (MarketScan) to identify idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) patients who underwent LP or VP shunting from 2007 to 2014. Multivariate logistic and Cox regressions were performed to compare rates of shunt failure and time to shunt failure between LP and VP shunts while controlling for demographics and comorbidities.ResultsThe analytic cohort included 1082 IIH patients, 347 of whom underwent LP shunt placement at index hospitalization and 735 of whom underwent VP shunt placement. Rates of shunt failure were similar among patients with LP and VP shunt (34.6% vs 31.7%; P = .382). Among patients who experienced shunt failure, the mean number of shunt failures was 2.1 ± 1.6 and was similar between LP and VP cohorts. Ninety-day readmission rates, complication rates, and costs did not differ significantly between LP and VP shunts. Patients who experienced more than two shunt failures tended to have an earlier time to first shunt failure (hazard ratio 1.41; 95% confidence interval 1.08-1.85; P = .013).ConclusionThese findings suggest that LP and VP shunts may have comparable rates of shunt failure and complication. Regardless of shunt type, earlier time to first shunt failure may be associated with multiple shunt failures.Copyright © 2019 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

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