ASK THE EXPERT Episode 8 Removing a Shunt

If it appears a shunt is no longer needed in a patient, do you remove the shunt?

[amyplierlover]

I use to have hydrocephalus as a baby after I was born in 2002... they did surgery of putting in the shunt in my brain when I still a baby.. I had the shunt for 2 years only- 2003 and 2004.. in 2004, I got it removed and now I’m living in a normal life..

[BLAB-itun]

"Let sleeping dogs lie." So much wisdom in that statement. I was labeled as having "arrested" or "compensated" hydrocephalus after the first two years of life and multiple revisions. I then went more than 30 years with no apparent symptoms and images of a shunt system in pieces with "brain matter" clogging it, calcification forming over it and all the signs that it was not being used nor needed which turned out not to be true. Dr. Walker's summary here and elsewhere are so insightful and sadly so rare. Hydrocephalus is chronic and incurable and thus even when stable and asymptomatic it may be neither. Interventions may be needed at any point regardless of stability or the appearance of the shunt system. Despite my shunt looking as though it was in tatters and blocked, I was actually overdraining and only when an entirely new system was placed after 30 years did the symptoms resolve. So the impulse to want to say you are cured and can be shunt independent is likely false and thus even when stable you should probably "let sleeping dogs lie" because taking the system out could trigger destabilization of the CSF system. The harm of attempting to remove what you think is a useless shunt may be worse than keeping a useless system in your body.

[akhtarkazemi]

I agree. My son 29 years old and have vp shut I and my family need to know all adault hydrocephalus information and these information very good for us and thanks for adults hydrocephalus community useful information .👌👌👌👌👌

[jfalsdkfds]

I had mine in since 1981 it was my 2nd. They were unsure if it worked any longer. Then this year I got massive headaches again and needed another as an emergency so guess it worked all that time. They did say it was in bad repair and broken when they replaced it

[remedyke]

I agree. I have had the same VP shunt for 28 years and I have heard that the one I got would usually expire in 25 yrs and my doctor says we dont know if my body needs the shunt and if it has just stopped working but my doctor is not concerned and so we will leave it alone and watch for symptoms and life my life like I always have....

[nikkithompson]

Dr. Walker did my surgery when my shunts were removed. I had a third ventriculostomy, to replace them.

[orionspartan]

The issue with “letting sleeping dogs lie, ” Dr. Moron, is that, if the shunt really is no longer necessary, the only possible thing it can do is go bad.
For instance, you don’t keep a cast on a broken bone after it’s healed…

[DaminionC]

How do they seal the hole left on the skull once the shunt is removed?

[joenauseef]

Mine was removed 5 years ago, and i have been fine. It was broke in my body for years apparently, and it was bugging my arm, so he took it out, after 2 follow ups, I didn't need to go back. It was clearly broke on the xray.

[hennieswanepoel]

I like the fact that this doctor does not take chances. I am 38 and had my 1st shunt installed at 6 months old. Since then I had more than 20 revisions of which the last one was March this year. I am a very active person and participates in marathons and endurance races. What people must remember is that you might think that you do not need it until your body does something that it is not used to. I have a lot of experience with people removing shunts to insert new ones and I know that removing a shunt can be extremely difficult and dangerous. I had a few close calls and brain bleeds so I know it is always a risk. If the shunt part that sits close to the brain has been there for 30 years, there is a good chance that it is so attached to the brain tissue that taking in out is too much of a risk depending on the model of the shunt. If it does not do harm, taking it out is too much of a risk as far as I am concerned. Obviously, if it has entangled itself in places that it can cause other issues, it is a different story.

[amberconstable]

I wish I have my old shunt removed. Really sucks for me I had to get a new one on another side of my head and I really want my old shunt to remove and put a new one same place. My neurosurgeon didn't want to pull my old one out it was a risk for me or my life too. Mine been in there abdomen area since I was week old(34 years ago) & top part replaced I was 7 years old so 27 years ag0) until last year I had get new one for first time in my life on another side of my head I didn't want.

[jordan]

I would really like to have mine removed. I’m 24 and had mine since age 2.

[Muthonie]

How about in slit ventricle syndrome? I have had my shunt blocked and 3 months later my ventricles are still collapsed with low ICP. I am scheduled to remove my shunt because I'm having symptoms

[devinhoward]

I’ve had a ventricularperitoneal shunt for 21 years I go for an appointment with my neurosurgeon next year i’m Going to find out about the shunt removal

[deepakjeswani]

My father has had brain tumor surgery, it's been 3 months, VP shunt surgery, it's been 1 month but now he's swollen and hard surface when he's sleeping and when he's up After half an hour, the CSF drain is getting out but is not getting completed.

[astronauttv]

I’m 27 and have had a shunt in my head since I was a baby but the tube has been broken off and in my pelvis coiled up like a snake since high school. So I guess my shunt has not worked in a long time but I’ve been having visual migraines every now and then and sometimes I get a small panic attack going to the neurosurgeon soon to figure out if I can get it removed

[marcuschapman]

I had my first one put in in 1975 as a baby and another in 1981 aged 6. Both still there. They don't know if they work or not and I got the same answer 30 years ago. We don't know.

I dint mind them now.

[mak]

Well then why the heck would you put it in if there is no way of knowing if it's even working. Because based on what you are saying is that the damn thing is invasive with way to monitor it, test it or do anything but guess. Aside from having an external shunt you'd rather risk even knowing what damage might be being caused by it's presence. Yea that's the answer, wait til the damn thing causes more problems. Typical.

[patriciacoakley]

I had a new shunt put in n am now having the old one removed due to abdominal pain. is this a difficult surgery and is the recovery process long??

[akuaasamoah]

Can you shampoo your hair at the salon using their shampoo/wash sinks with a VP shunt