title: Atraumatic lumbar puncture needles: after all these years, are we still missing the point?
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Instructor in Anesthesia, Mayo Foundation Scholar, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Arendt
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Demaerschalk
authors.forename: Dean M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wingerchuk
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Camann
mesh_terms: 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*