post VP shunt surgery and abdominal pain...

[alwayshopeful31211]

In October of 2011 I had a vp shunt placed due to psuedo tumor cerebri, and since the surgery I have had increasing abdominal pain that started off mild on the left side of my abdomen. It then moved to the right side and down to pelvic area and back and forth.for the past 5 days I have had severe pain on the right side starting right under my breast and towards my back and down to my waist.  It seems to be under my ribs. It is so severe I can not lay down or take a deep breath
Without screaming and crying in pain. I have had bloodwork, urine tests, x rays, ultrasound, and cat scans done and the doctors can not find a reason for my pain. Pain pills take the edge off momentarily. I've tried Epson salt baths, heating pads, cold compress and ibuprofen. What can be the cause and what can I do to relieve the pain? I'm getting scared.  

[Tuckamore]

Hello and Welcome to our Community.

I'm sorry but this is an old thread. Old threads often are not reopened, get poor visibility and responses. I encourage you to begin a new thread. You can do so by clicking on the bar that says, "Post a Question." It's located in the upper right side at the top of this thread.

There are other communities that may be helpful too. Here's a link:

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Brain-Pituitary-Tumors

I know that you do not have these conditions - I'm looking for a community that would have more experience in shunts than we have here.

Again, please begin a new Question. Select a descriptive title which will attract members. I'm sorry. I have no personal experience with shunts. I had a close relative that had one but did not seem to have any pain.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Warm Regards,
~Tuck

[whatfun]

I had a shunt fitted after contracting meningitis and have had pain and stabbing pains ever since it was fitted my surgeon said I have irritable bowel syndrome it seems like too much of a coincidence which I don't believe, any help would be appreciated.

[ShuntAllergy]

Like all of you on this page I suffered from chronic and debilitating pain in my abdomen after my shunt was inserted. My operating neurosurgeon said "it was all in my head" real sympathetic. So I went back to the Neurosurgeon who had done my 3rd Ventriculostomy months before. The moment I told him my symptoms he told me I was allergic to my tube, it is not common but it does happen. After returning to the other neurosurgeon who put in the shunt, he the sent me to a General Surgeon who did a Laparoscopy and when he looked at the tube he said I was all red and irritated at the tube and that I was allergic to it. Great to finally get a diagnosis, the down side is that I've now been on slow release morphine to control the pain for the 19 years. I hope this helps some of you.

[ableandwilling]

I had a VP shunt placed and 6 months after, had a sever infection that encroached into the brain...was hospitalized for 14 days with IV antibiotics every 4 hours...waited 1 year before having a new shunt placed(had 22 spinal taps during that year)...After the VP was placed, I was dealing with nausea/headaches..the shunt needed to be closed more...was sent home and was vomiting until the doctor closed the shunt again. However, the result of the vomiting was that the catheter in the abdomen became positioned out of place and caused CSF fluid to build up to the point where I had a huge distended bulge with an extreme amount of pain. The doctor had me wait 3 weeks to see if it would go down on its own;which it did not. My surgeon then did a abdomen CT Scan w/ contrast that indicated the displaced catheter. I had surgery a few days later. they had to open up the initial incision and resolved the issue. I am now pain free, no headaches and am hoping this will be the final surgery for a ver Very VERY long time!!!

[carelc56]

I was operated in 1997 triventriculaire endoscopie and in june 2011
I got a vp shunt. After the operation  I had a lot of abdominabel pain. In september 2011 the shunt was shortened with 38 cm. After this operation I have still pain of this shunt. My head feels not bad, but the pain in the abdomen is not so nice. The neurosurgeon told me that the problems with the vp shunt are rare, but after surching with Google I find several patients with the same complaints.
Alwayshopeful I hope you will be feeling better soon. Finally they know why you felt this pain. I hope you will have a good and healthy 2012.
gr. Carel

[alwayshopeful31211]

Well come to find out, my most recent ct scan shows an infection at the tip of the tube. So tomorrow I will be going to the hospital to have the tube removed and tested to see what kind of infection and have antibiotics started. Once that is done (7-14 days) they will be taking my shunt out of my brain and putting a new one in on the opposite side of my head. I'm terrified and heartbroken I will be spending Christmas in the hospital this year but I'm praying this will end the pain for me. Thank you for all your support.

[jgfrank]

Shortening of the tubing is certainly an option, and could alleviate your pain.  From what I understand, its a simple procedure done laproscopically during an office visit. No overnight stays.  That being said, I first tried physical therapy, and have found some exercises that for whatever reason, reduce the pain.
If your body were rejecting the tubing, you would certainly know it.  The tubing is very superficial in its route from your head to your abdomen, and if there was an infection, the tubing "line" would turn red.  My tubing feels tight too when I move certain ways (specifically the yoga pose cobra) so I don't do those movements.  
I have found few doctors that would even acknowledge the idea that something "benign"  such as a shunt could cause pain, but its a foreign object in an already traumatized system.  I think your pain will lessen over time, but it may take a while.  Keep us updated!

[alwayshopeful31211]

Hello, yes when I went to the er on Friday I had a ct without contrast done and they didn't find anything to be wrong. I've had xrays done and it shows how the tube circles around the.inside of the cavity but still they say they see no problem, I did ingest a drink mix of magnesium citrate to help.cleanse my bowels and colon to see if that would help, and while.it did cleanse, I still have trouble breathing deeply and moving around, now the pain is not at the same level.it was on Friday but its still painful and seems debilitating to move or function. Thank you for the insight.  

[alwayshopeful31211]

*I meant coiling not cooling of the tube

[alwayshopeful31211]

Wow I could not imagine having another vp shunt surgery at all. Right now my pain is centralized under my right breast on my ribs from front to back and down to my waist line close to where my incision is. I had my husband try to massage that area and it was painful so I'm wondering if either my body is trying to reject the tube, or the tube was pulled too sight between my chest and abdominal incision. Because all my radiological scans show no signs of cooling, twisting, knotting, or obstruction of the tube. I did not however believe how long the tube is in my peritoneal cavity. I'm wondering if they can deposition the tube or shorten it and maybe it will help with the pain. I'm so new to all of this and I'm scared out of my mind. Thank you for your insight!

[Mashauna]

Hello.  Did you pain get better.  I am looking for relief for my daugther.  She had VP shunt placement for Intracranial Hypertension (IH) just about a month ago and is still have such back stomach craps and she explains it as a contraction (not ever having one)...lol that the best way she can describe the pain.  She is 17 yrs old and was hoping the shunt would help all and now she is dealing with this pain.  Thanks for your time!

[Not_again_mom]

Wow! Just finding this group! I had my third and fourth VP shunt surgeries about that time. I had severe pain that might have been like yours, I don't know. In the end, after much searching and answers that sound like what you got, I found that I had grapefruit size cysts on my ovaries! I couldn't take a breath without excruciating pain. I saw a GI dr, the intern dr who did the tubing part of my shunt, no one could tell me what was going on. It felt like the pain was everywhere but I did end up at my GYN and an ultrasound found the culprit. I've talked to many other shunt patients who have tubing problems tho and it can take a really long time to get used to it in the abdomen or if there is a problem, to get someone to take care of it. As you may be used to, our condition prepares us for being treated like nothing is wrong and we are just complaining. I still don't have any relief. Don't give up! They kept telling me it was just regular post op pain and I needed to get used to it. Just like I must have been losing my vision for a long time and that nothing was really wrong with me. Until another dr freaks out and tells me I might have a brain tumor, an aneurism or this Pseudotumor thing and that its an emergency situation that i have to deal with immediately. That was over 14 years ago. I'll keep watching to see how you're doing.

[jgfrank]

Hi,
I had severe pain as well after my vp shunt placement, and no one seemed to have a reasonable explanation for me.  I was told that I must have to go to the bathroom, that there was no way the shunt was causing my discomfort, maybe I was gassy etc, until finally my urologist said the pain was most likely being caused by the perforation of my diaphragm where the tubing entered, because like you, the pain would increase the deeper I inhaled.  I was told that scar tissue needed to build up around the distal tip of the catheter in my peritoneal cavity, and as it did, the pain would subside.  Well its been 3.5 years, and for the most part the pain is gone, although I do get flareups occasionally.  Have you gotten a CT scan of your abdomen?  That at least can show you where the tip is lying...I am sorry I can't give you the exact amount of time the pain will continue, but you are not alone.  I wish you the best!