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Intracranial suppurations in the African child: a severe but preventable complication

V P Djientcheu1, T F Mouafo, A Esiene

  • 1Neurosurgery unit, Central Hospital of Yaounde, PO Box: 87, Messa, Yaounde, Cameroon. vincent_djientcheu@yahoo.com

Child'S Nervous System : Chns : Official Journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
|October 12, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Intracranial suppurations (ICS) are common in children, often stemming from preventable infections. Surgical drainage via burr holes or aspiration is effective for treating empyemas and abscesses, respectively.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurosurgery
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Intracranial suppurations (ICS) are pus collections within the skull, posing significant risks, particularly in pediatric populations.
  • These infections represent a notable proportion of intracranial space-occupying lesions, highlighting their clinical importance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present the authors' experience with surgically managed intracranial suppurations in children.
  • To analyze the epidemiology, clinical presentation, causative factors, and outcomes of ICS in a pediatric cohort.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective study including all children operated for ICS at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé from January 2000 to December 2008.
  • Data collection involved reviewing patient records for demographics, clinical signs, infection sources, lesion types, surgical procedures, mortality, and morbidity.

Main Results:

  • Thirty-five pediatric patients were included, with a male predominance (74.29%).
  • Common presenting symptoms included headaches (80.77%), convulsions (76%), fever (89.29%), and motor deficits (69.23%). Meningitis and sinusitis were frequent primary infection sources.
  • Empyema (65.71%) was the most common lesion type, treated primarily with burr hole drainage, while cerebral abscesses (22.85%) were managed with puncture-aspiration. Mortality was 21.42% and morbidity 42.85%.

Conclusions:

  • Intracranial suppurations are frequent and potentially preventable pediatric conditions in developing countries, emphasizing the need for early treatment of primary infections.
  • Simple and effective surgical techniques like burr hole drainage for empyemas and puncture-aspiration for abscesses are crucial for managing ICS.
Abstract

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