Surgical Indications and Operative Results of Lumbosubarachnoid-Lumboepidural Shunting in 29 Patients with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus under Local Anesthesia

This study consisted of 29 patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) who underwent lumbosubarachnoid-lumboepidural (L-L) shunting under local anesthesia in accordance with our surgical indications of L-L shunting. (1) CSF absorption within the lumbar epidural space and shunt clearance were confirmed in all patients after operation. (2) Shunt responders (R) were 25 of 29 cases (86.2%) 3 months after surgery. Among the R, symptom exacerbation was confirmed in three patients (12%) within the follow-up period (mean, 25.1 months). In each of these patients, shunt function were maintained and remained unchanged even with pressure resetting, the cause being an intracranial/extracranial disease other than iNPH. (3) The initial pressure setting for this method was 8 cmH(2)O, with gradual change to higher pressures, such that the setting for Patient 11 and thereafter became 20 cmH(2)O. (4) As postsurgical complications, subcutaneous cerebral spinal fluid collection (SCC) was confirmed in five patients (17.2%). In high-pressure resetting and follow-up observation, SCC was not observed in all patients. Epidural catheter displacement was confirmed in three patients (10.3%). No recurrence was noted after the secure fixation of the catheter at the fascia insertion portion and 2 days’ postsurgical bed rest. Hence, L-L shunting is an effective shunt therapy for iNPH.