Australasian Shunt Registry

Overview

 The Australasian Shunt Registry is a bi-national clinical quality registry established with the aim of  improving safety and quality of care for patients with hydrocephalus and related conditions by  monitoring and analysing shunt procedures performed throughout Australasia. The Australasian Shunt Registry is a Clinical Quality Registry and has been established with the primary purpose of improving the safety and quality of health care provided to patients.

Data collection commenced in December 2016.

The  key objectives  of the Registry are shown below and the data that is collected to help achieve these outcomes:

Determination of the current indications , frequency and outcomes of CSF shunt related procedures

What is the cause of the hydrocephalus? 
Is it congenital (present at birth) or is it acquired (and how)?
What is the age and gender of the patient?
The number of shunts inserted in Australasia each year is currently unknown but is probably in the order of thousands.  How often is a shunt inserted, revised or removed?  What was the reason for this? (i.e. infection, over drainage, growth etc)

Measurement of CSF shunt longevity  (How long does a shunt last?)

If the shunt needs revision, removal or replacement – what time period has passed since the original operation/s?

Early identification of particular CSF shunt components associated with unexpectedly high failure rates

The number of shunts marketed in Australasia is numerous and increasing.  There are many different types of shunts.  A shunt usually consists of an inflow/proximal catheter (placed in the fluid part of the brain) a valve (regulates the flow, flow direction and pressure)  and a  distal catheter (carries the fluid from the valve to other parts of the body where it is released and absorbed).  Valves may be fixed or adjustable and contain antisiphon devices or reservoirs.

Product information is recorded for all shunt components in a surgery.  This will help identify if one particular component is associated with unexpectedly high failure rates.

Quality of clinical care – allowing benchmarking of outcomes between deidentified individuals and neurosurgical units

Risk mitigation: immediate rebuttal when inaccurate information is published about the safety of CSF shunts

Long term data collection will assist in analysing the safety of CSF shunts and their individual components.

Research: the registry will be an opportunity to study methods of improving the performance and outcomes of CSF shunts and their components

There is a gap in current knowledge regarding the factors that influence the clinical outcomes of patients with CSF shunts, device information and clinical performance.