Surgical resource utilization after initial treatment of infant hydrocephalus: comparing ETV, early experience of ETV with choroid plexus cauterization, and shunt insertion in the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network.

Objective: Few studies have addressed surgical resource utilization-surgical revisions and associated hospital admission days-following shunt insertion or endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with or without choroid plexus cauterization (CPC) for CSF diversion in hydrocephalus. Study members of the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN) investigated differences in surgical resource utilization between CSF diversion strategies in hydrocephalus in infants.

Methods: Patients up to corrected age 24 months undergoing initial definitive treatment of hydrocephalus were reviewed from the prospectively maintained HCRN Core Data Project (Hydrocephalus Registry). Postoperative courses (at 1, 3, and 5 years) were studied for hydrocephalus-related surgeries (primary outcome) and hospital admission days related to surgical revision (secondary outcome). Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and compared using negative binomial regression, controlling for age, hydrocephalus etiology, and HCRN center. The study population was organized into 3 groups (ETV alone, ETV with CPC, and CSF shunt insertion) during the 1st postoperative year and 2 groups (ETV alone and CSF shunt insertion) during subsequent years due to limited long-term follow-up data.

Results: Among 1090 patients, the majority underwent CSF shunt insertion (CSF shunt, 83.5%; ETV with CPC, 10.0%; and ETV alone, 6.5%). Patients undergoing ETV with CPC had a higher mean number of revision surgeries (1.2 ± 1.6) than those undergoing ETV alone (0.6 ± 0.8) or CSF shunt insertion (0.7 ± 1.3) over the 1st year after surgery (p = 0.005). At long-term follow-up, patients undergoing ETV alone experienced a nonsignificant lower mean number of revision surgeries (0.7 ± 0.9 at 3 years and 0.8 ± 1.3 at 5 years) than those undergoing CSF shunt insertion (1.1 ± 1.9 at 3 years and 1.4 ± 2.6 at 5 years) and exhibited a lower mean number of hospital admission days related to revision surgery (3.8 ± 10.3 vs 9.9 ± 27.0, p = 0.042).

Conclusions: Among initial treatment strategies for hydrocephalus, ETV with CPC yielded a higher surgical revision rate within 1 year after surgery. Patients undergoing ETV alone exhibited a nonsignificant lower mean number of surgical revisions than CSF shunt insertion at 3 and 5 years postoperatively. Additionally, the ETV-alone cohort demonstrated significantly fewer hospital admission days related to surgical management of hydrocephalus within 3 years after surgery. These findings suggest a time-dependent benefit of ETV over CSF shunt insertion regarding surgical resource utilization.