title: Gender and post-dural puncture headache.
abstract: Gender is believed to be an independent risk factor for the development of post-dural puncture headache, but there are some of the inconsistencies in the available data. This systematic review examined a total of 18 trials (2,163 males, 1,917 females). The odds of developing a post-dural puncture headache were significantly lower for male than nonpregnant female subjects (odds ratio = 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.44-0.67). Although the authors found that nonpregnant female subjects seem to have a higher incidence of post-dural puncture headache than males, the etiology behind these findings is not clear from the current meta-analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, MD 21287, USA. chwu@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Rowlingson
authors.forename: Seth R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Michaels
authors.forename: Genevieve E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Courpas
authors.forename: Emily M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Joe
authors.forename: Spencer S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D051299:Post-Dural Puncture Headache / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012727:Sex Characteristics