Ventriculoperitoneal shunt and the need to remove a gallbladder: Time to definitely overcome the feeling that laparoscopic surgery is contraindicated

Lorenzo Cobianchi; Tommaso Dominioni; Claudia Filisetti; Sandro Zonta; Marcello Maestri; Paolo Dionigi; Mario Alessiani

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2014.03.005

Ventriculoperitoneal shunt and the need to remove a gallbladder: Time to definitely overcome the feeling that laparoscopic surgery is contraindicated

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2014 Jun 21;3(3):65-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2014.03.005. eCollection 2014 Sep.

Authors

Lorenzo Cobianchi¹, Tommaso Dominioni¹, Claudia Filisetti², Sandro Zonta¹, Marcello Maestri¹, Paolo Dionigi¹, Mario Alessiani³

Affiliations

¹ University of Pavia, Department of Surgery and I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
² University of Milan, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ospedale dei Bambini V. Buzzi, Italy.
³ University of Pavia, Department of Surgery, Italy.

Abstract

Since Baskin et al. reported the first documented case of failure of a laparoscopically-induced ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VP) in 1998, the cerebrospinal fluid shunt has been generally considered a relative contraindication to laparoscopy. Although the literature is limited there is a small body of evidence indicating that it is safe to perform laparoscopic surgery on these patients with routine anaesthetic monitoring. In this study we report the case of a laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the presence of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. A review of the literature suggests that laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be safely performed in patients with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. The only related contraindication should be if a catheter has recently been placed.

Keywords: Entriculoperitoneal shunt; Miniinvasive surgery.

Publication types

Case Reports