Atraumatic lumbar puncture needles: after all these years, are we still missing the point?
BACKGROUND
Cutting needles remain the most commonly used needle design for lumbar puncture in the neurology community, although atraumatic (noncutting) needles have become common and popular for anesthesiologists performing spinal anesthesia.


RESULTS
The use of atraumatic spinal needles for lumbar puncture has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of postdural puncture headache compared with cutting needles, without loss of efficacy or ease of use.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of noncutting or pencil-point spinal needles should become the standard for performing diagnostic lumbar puncture.
Arendt
Katherine
K
Instructor in Anesthesia, Mayo Foundation Scholar, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Demaerschalk
Bart M
BM
Wingerchuk
Dean M
DM
Camann
William
W
D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000295:instrumentation; D006801:Humans; D009339:Needles; D051299:Post-Dural Puncture Headache / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*