Gender and post-dural puncture headache.
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.
Wu
Christopher L
CL
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University, MD 21287, USA. chwu@jhmi.edu
Rowlingson
Andrew J
AJ
Cohen
Seth R
SR
Michaels
Robert K
RK
Courpas
Genevieve E
GE
Joe
Emily M
EM
Liu
Spencer S
SS
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