Postoperative meningitis and pre-existent neurosurgical disease

Postoperative meningitis (POM) is a major problem in neurosurgery. Risk of development of POM as nozocomial infection is greater in patients having some form of pre-existent neurosurgical disease, demanding operative treatment. Precipitating factors in POM development may be patient's sex and age. This retrospective study analyzed 78 patient's histories with clinical signs and laboratory findings indicative of POM, grouped in 4 categories based on neurosurgical diagnosis (intracranial haemorrhage - ICH, trauma, tumour, hydrocephalus) and operative treatment. Out of 4,112 patients having neurosurgical treatment in period of four years, there were 78 cases of POM, meaning the incidence is 1.89%. The results were statistically significant in relation to categories based on neurosurgical diagnosis (Chi-square= 18.947; p<0.001). Sex difference in categories based on neurosurgical diagnosis is also statistically significant (Chi-square=9.34; p<0.03). In relation to patients' mean age, the results were statistically significant in category with diagnosis of ICH-Trauma (T-test= 4.164; p<0.01) and ICH-Tumour (T-test=2.182; p<0.05). Pre-existent neurosurgical disease and operative treatment related to it might precipitate development of POM, but factors such as age and sex might also play a role in some categories of patients.