A case of intestinal perforation with a residual shunt tube placed during childhood: should we remove the non-functioning tube?

We report a 22-year-old man who had abdominal shunt tube migration into colon. He was diagnosed with pilocytic astrocytoma at optic-chiasm to hypothalamus at age of 7, and treated by resection, chemotherapy, and irradiation. He developed hydrocephalus and had multiple ventriculo-peritoneal shunt surgery. At age of 19, he fell in coma due to the subarachnoid and intra-ventricular hemorrhage due to the aneurysm rupture. The ventricle tube was removed, leaving the shunt valve and abdominal tube. The new shunt system was reconstructed at the contralateral side. He was at bed rest after this episode. At age of 20, he had high fever unable to control with antibiotics. The abdominal computed tomogram showed the shunt tube migration in the descending colon. The tube was removed under laparoscopy, and the inflammation was cured. The abandoned peritoneal shunt tube should be removed in patients with high tube migration risks.