Clinical, microbiological profile and treatment response to intraventricular antibiotics in the Management of Post-Neurosurgical Meningitis: A single center experience.

Introduction Post-Neurosurgical Meningitis (PNM) is a serious medical condition with high mortality and morbidity caused by organisms like Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative organisms like Acinetobacter baumannii. Optimum concentration of antibiotics in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to treat these infections are difficult to achieve. Intraventricular antibiotic administration bypasses the blood-brain barrier and can achieve high CSF concentration without causing systemic toxicity. Methods Retrospective review of all patient records were done to identify patients who developed post-neurosurgical meningitis and received intraventricular antibiotic therapy during the period of July 2017 to December 2022. Demographic and clinical data along with type of antibiotic, route, dose and duration of administration was collected. CSF parameters before and after intraventricular antibiotic administration were collected and analyzed. Results 26 patients with post-neurosurgical meningitis received intraventricular antibiotic therapy. Intracranial tumors were the most common underlying pathology followed by aneurysms. 17/26 patients had received vancomycin and 9/26 patients had received colistin. External ventricular drain was used in 17/26 cases and Ommaya reservoir was used in 9/26 cases. 6 cases showed growth of organism in CSF before starting intraventricular antibiotics, 1 case remained culture positive despite treatment. 3/26 patients died despite treatment. There were significant changes in the CSF parameters after intraventricular antibiotic therapy. Conclusion Intraventricular administration of antibiotic provides an alternative therapeutic option in the management of patients who are not responding or poorly responding to systemic antibiotics.