Acute ileus following ventriculoperitoneal shunt: case report.

A three month old girl with progressive hydrocephalus from birth had a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, during which the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was found to be xanthochromic. She developed acute ileus four hours post-operatively and continued to deteriorate. The shunt was exteriorised as an external ventricular drain. She did well and another VP shunt was inserted later. Acute ileus following VP shunt is not common, but can occur in the presence of xanthochromic CSF. It is advisable that when such CSF is encountered during VP shunt, the initial management should be external ventricular drainage, followed later by VP shunt when the CSF becomes clear. This can be life saving.