Surgical management of bacterial meningitis

A variety of associated lesions may require the neurosurgeon's assistance in the management of bacterial meningitis. As treatment of this infection of the central nervous system proceeds, the surgeon will have to decide about the concurrent or subsequent operative treatment of congenital dysraphic states, paraneural infections, compound fractures or penetrating wounds of thecranium or spine, or infected bypass shunts for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In patients with intractable meningitic infections the surgeon may have to insert a ventricular drainage-irrigation system to permit adequate perfusion of the CSF pathways with antibiotic. Hydrocephalus or subdural effusions complicating meningitis may bring the patient to the surgeon long after the infection has been cured. This paper examines these problems and outlines the current principles of management.