Postoperative Orders
- Standard postoperative care: The author uses standard postoperative management for children undergoing surgery for atretic encephaloceles, including the routine administration of analgesics.
- Antibiotics per institutional routine: The author provides a second dose of prophylactic antibiotics 8 hours after completion of the surgery, and then the venous line is removed.
- Short hospital stay: Usually the child can be discharged home the day after surgery after the dressings of the surgical wound are changed.
Postoperative Morbidity
No unique morbidities are associated with recovery from surgery for atretic encephaloceles.
- Local pain: Pain is managed with analgesics either orally or intravenously.
- Possible wound problems: Superficial infection or wound dehiscence may occur.
- Delayed bleeding: This complication is highly improbable and might require surgical revision.
- Delayed cranioplasty: In some special instances repair of the skull defect might be indicated. However, in the author’s experience, parents do not request skull repair for these usually small bone defects.
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