Ventriculoperitoneal shunt externalization during laparoscopic prostatectomy.

Ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement is the standard treatment for patients with hydrocephalus or increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Many patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunts require subsequent surgery. Increasingly, this surgery is performed laparoscopically. We describe externalizing the ventriculoperitoneal shunt outside the abdomen in a patient undergoing extraperitoneal laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.