title: Intravenous theophylline rapidly decreases post-lumbar puncture headaches.
abstract: When managing therapy for the post-lumbar puncture headaches (PLPHs), an efficacious, fast-acting, practical and safe method is preferred. Invasive methods have known complications and oral medications might be problematic when nausea and vomiting occurs with severe headaches. The aim of this study was to highlight the brief initial time for a remarkable decrease of PLPH pain levels after the administration of IV theophylline infusion. We observed that IV theophylline infusion has a rapid and marked effect on decreasing pain in PLPHs. At 30 min of theophylline infusion, mean VAS levels were decreased by 47.1 % and at 60 min of infusion, the decrease of pain was 61.9 %. We conclude that IV theophylline infusion is a rapidly effective, noninvasive, practical and low-cost way to treat PLPHs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to highlight both the efficacy and the speed of the effect of pain relief in PLPHs.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. ufukergun@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ufuk
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ergün
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: H Aybüke
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Ünal-Artık
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Leven E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: İnan
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health Ankara Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoldaş
mesh_terms: D061605:Administration, Intravenous; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D051299:Post-Dural Puncture Headache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013129:Spinal Puncture / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D013806:Theophylline / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013806:Theophylline
keywords: Intracranial hypotension; Post dural puncture headache; Post-lumbar puncture headache; Teophylline