Information about tankini swimsuits ought to be part of a package that gets sent to all neurosurgeons. Why should surgeons that operate on the head and neck receive detailed information about a certain type of swimwear? Well, it is because a tankini swimsuit covers up any type of abdominal scar.
This new type of swimsuit has two parts, much like a bikini. However, the top portion of this swimsuit extends down over the lower part. It hangs down from the top part like a long flowing bib. Thus it manages to hide any scar that a female swimmer might have on her abdomen.
But why would a woman who has undergone some form of neurosurgery have an abdominal scar? Well, she might have hydrocephalus, and therefore, she might have been given a peritoneal shunt.
In a patient with hydrocephalus, the certain brain cells fail to handle the secreted cerebrospinal fluid in the manner that it should. Normally, the body simply absorbs the excess fluid, i.e. the fraction that is not used to cushion the skull, and the portion that does not run down the length of the spinal column. However, when a patient has hydrocephalus, that excess fluid builds up inside the ventricles of the brain.
As those spaces within the brain fill up with added amounts of fluid, they start to press on the brain. That pressure can cause headaches, double vision and periods of imbalance, all symptoms of hydrocephalus. In order to correct for the failure of the body to absorb the excess fluid, a neurosurgeon must furnish the affected patient with a ventricular shunt.
The shunt carries the unneeded fluid to another section of the body, such as the peritoneal cavity. A female who has been given that sort of implantable device, a ventricular peritoneal shunt, could benefit from knowledge of the tankini swimsuit.
