title: Ultrasound-Assisted Lumbar Puncture in Pediatric Emergency Department.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lumbar puncture (LP) is one of the essential diagnostic tools in pediatric emergency services. Recently, ultrasound-assisted LP was reported to be beneficial in the emergency service by facilitating the procedure and improving the successful procedure rates. In addition, this method may be effective in reducing patient and parent anxiety due to the LP procedure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ultrasound-assisted LP on the outcomes of puncture procedures and traumatic LP.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included patients younger than 18 years, who were admitted to the pediatric emergency service and underwent LP because of suspected central nervous system infection. The patients requiring LP were randomly divided into 2 groups designated as odd and even. One group received LP using the conventional method, whereas the other group had LP after spinal space measurement by ultrasound. The patients who did and who did not undergo ultrasound-assisted LP were compared for demographics, number of puncture attempts, and traumatic LP. Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Student t test. The χ test was used when nominal data were compared between the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ultrasound-assisted LP was performed in 56 patients, and LP by using conventional method was performed in 55 patients. There was traumatic LP in 5 (8.9%) of the patients who underwent ultrasound-assisted LP and 9 (16.3%) of the patients who underwent LP using the conventional method (P > 0.05). The number of puncture attempts was 2 or more in 2 (3.5%) of the patients who underwent ultrasound-assisted LP and 5 (9%) of the patients who had LP using the conventional method (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ultrasound-assisted LP reduced traumatic LP and the number of puncture attempts in pediatric patients; however, the results were not statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of *Pediatrics, and †Pediatric Emergency, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras; ‡Department of Pediatric Emergency, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara; and §Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, Kahramanmaras, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emre
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Özdamar
authors.forename: Ahmet Kağan
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Özkaya
authors.forename: Ekrem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Güler
authors.forename: Burcu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cantay
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karabel
authors.forename: Yalçin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Göksügür
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Çetinkaya
authors.forename: Özcan
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Emre
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*