title: Evaluation of pre lumbar puncture position on post lumbar puncture headache.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The most common complication of lumbar puncture (LP) occurring in over thirty percent of patients is headache. The position after lumbar puncture, needle type and size, and volume of the extracted cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been evaluated as contributory factors in occurrence of post lumbar puncture headache (PLPH), but the position before lumbar puncture has not been evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  The occurrence of post lumbar puncture headache was evaluated in 125 patients undergoing lumbar puncture, divided randomly into sitting and lateral decubitus groups in the following five days. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty eight patients (30.4%) reported headache after lumbar puncture in the two groups, and post lumbar puncture headache was significantly lower in the lateral decubitus position (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between genders in the post lumbar puncture headache occurrence (p = 0.767).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lumbar puncture in sitting position could produce more post lumbar puncture headache in comparison with lateral decubitus position.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Siamak Afshin
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Majd
authors.forename: Shahryar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pourfarzam
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.forename: Mohammad Ebrahim
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Yarmohammadi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Davati
authors.forename: Moslem
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaberian
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