[Combined treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin and antibiotics for severe postoperative meningitis (author's transl)].

Incidence of postoperative meningitis by gram-negative bacilli infection, so called "opportunistic infections", has recently increased in the neurosurgical field. The opportunistic infection is caused by suppression of the host's immunity and consequently limitation of the host defense mechanisms. Based on the results obtained from 4 cases of postoperative severe meningitis presented here, the authors concluded as follows: 1) Special care must be taken for intrathecal injection of antibiotics because of causing paralytic ileus, convulsion and paraparesis of the lower limbs. 2) The combined use of intravenous immunoglobulin (Gamma-Venin) and antibiotics produced potentiated effects. Accordingly, the amplification of the host's immunity is of major importance for the treatment of severe meningitis. 3) Using immunoadherence hemagglutination test of patient's CSF and the serum, it is considerably easier to determine whether or not to withdraw antibiotics.