External lumbar drainage (ELD) has gained wide popularity in neurosurgical practice since its’ first introduction by F. Vourc’h in 1963. It manifests encouraging prospects in control of refractory intracranial hypertension, prevention of complications secondary to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, prediction of shunt respondency in normal pressure hydrocephalus, management of cerebrospinal fl...

IMPORTANCE The role of acute care surgeons is evolving; however, no guidelines exist for the selective treatment of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) exclusively by acute care surgeons. We implemented the Brain Injury Guidelines (BIG) for managing TBI at our institution on March 1, 2012. OBJECTIVE To compare the outcomes in patients with TBI before and after implementation of the BIG...

Nosocomial meningitis is uncommon in children. We reviewed the medical records of all children who developed bacterial meningitis at least 72 hours after admission to Mackay Memorial Hospital for the period July 1992 through June 2000. Clinical manifestations, predisposing factors, pathogens, and outcomes were analyzed. Twenty-two cases of nosocomial meningitis were identified, comprising 9.2% ...

RATIONALE Microbial infection should be regarded in the differential diagnosis of neurosurgical complications after transnasal transsphenoidal pituitary microsurgery, albeit cryptococcal meningitis is rare. This article will discuss the risk factors of cryptococcal meningitis in patients underwent transnasal transsphenoidal pituitary microsurgery, and summary the potential origins of infection....

Poor penetration of vancomycin into Central Nervous System (CNS) can lead to treatmentfailure. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare CSF concentration and serumpharmacokinetics of high dose vancomycin by continuous infusion vs. intermittent infusion inpost neurosurgical meningitis patients. Twenty patients were divided into two groups. Patientsin intermittent infusion group received...

Poor penetration of vancomycin into Central Nervous System (CNS) can lead to treatmentfailure. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare CSF concentration and serumpharmacokinetics of high dose vancomycin by continuous infusion vs. intermittent infusion inpost neurosurgical meningitis patients. Twenty patients were divided into two groups. Patientsin intermittent infusion group received...

Neurosurgical patients may present motor, sensitive and balance impairment and increased risk of falling. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fall-related risk factors and the incidence of falls in the pre and post-operative period of neurosurgical patients. A prospective cohort study with a research population of patients undergoing elective neurosurgical procedures. Ninety-seven patient...