Economic impact of metagenomic next-generation sequencing versus traditional bacterial culture for postoperative central nervous system infections using a decision analysis mode: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Diagnosing and treating postoperative central nervous system infections (PCNSIs) remains challenging due to the low detection rate and time-consuming nature of traditional methods for identifying microorganisms in cerebrospinal fluid. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology provides a rapid and comprehensive understanding of microbial composition in PCNSIs by swiftly sequencing and analyzing the microbial genome. The current study aimed to assess the economic impact of using mNGS versus traditional bacterial culture-directed PCNSIs diagnosis and therapy in post-neurosurgical patients from Beijing Tiantan Hospital. mNGS is a relatively expensive test item, and whether it has the corresponding health-economic significance in the clinical application of diagnosing intracranial infection has not been studied clearly. Therefore, the investigators hope to explore the clinical application value of mNGS detection in PCNSIs after neurosurgery.