Standard vs atraumatic Whitacre needle for diagnostic lumbar puncture: a randomized trial.
In order to define the impact of needle type on post-lumbar puncture headache (PLPH), we performed a prospective, randomized trial comparing the incidence of PLPH in patients undergoing lumbar punctures (LPs) with traumatic vs atraumatic 22-gauge needles. Fifty-eight patients underwent 85 LPs. The incidence of PLPH was 36% in the traumatic vs 3% in the atraumatic group (p = 0.002).
Lavi
R
R
Anesthesiology Department, Rambam Medical Center, PO Box 9602, Haifa 31096, Israel. lavironit@hotmail.com
Yarnitsky
D
D
Yernitzky
D
D
Rowe
J M
JM
Weissman
A
A
Segal
D
D
Avivi
I
I
D000328:Adult; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles / Q000009:adverse effects; D010147:Pain Measurement; D051299:Post-Dural Puncture Headache / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*