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Illustration depicting lumbar puncture (spinal tap) Spinal needles used in lumbar puncture Illustration depicting common positions for lumbar puncture procedure. The person is usually placed on their side (left more commonly than right). The patient bends the neck so the chin is close to the chest, hunches the back, and brings knees toward the ...
A lumbar subcutaneous shunt (LS shunt) differs from these types of shunt in that the cerebrospinal fluid drains into the potential space immediately under the skin. A narrow tube is inserted into the subarachnoid space in the lumbar part of the back during a lumbar puncture.
The first step in symptom control is drainage of cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture. If necessary, this may be performed at the same time as a diagnostic LP (such as done in search of a CSF infection). In some cases, this is sufficient to control the symptoms, and no further treatment is needed. [7] [9]
This type of drain is known as an external ventricular drain (EVD). [10] This is rarely required outside brain injury and brain surgery settings. [citation needed] In situations when only small amounts of CSF are to be drained to reduce ICP's (e.g. in idiopathic intracranial hypertension), drainage of CSF via lumbar puncture can be used as a ...
A lumbar puncture that drains CSF may also be used as part of treatment for some conditions, including idiopathic intracranial hypertension and normal pressure hydrocephalus. [1] Lumbar puncture can also be performed to measure the intracranial pressure, which might be increased in certain types of hydrocephalus.
A lumbar puncture can give the symptom of a post-dural-puncture headache. A cerebrospinal fluid leak can be either cranial or spinal, and these are two different disorders. [5] A spinal CSF leak can be caused by one or more meningeal diverticula or CSF-venous fistulas not associated with an epidural leak.
An epidural blood patch (EBP) is a surgical procedure that uses autologous blood, meaning the patient's own blood, in order to close one or many holes in the dura mater of the spinal cord, which occurred as a complication of a lumbar puncture or epidural placement. [1] [2] The punctured dura causes cerebrospinal fluid leak (CSF leak). [1]
There are no specific signs or symptoms that can indicate meningitis, and a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to examine the cerebrospinal fluid is recommended for diagnosis. [47] Lumbar puncture is contraindicated if there is a mass in the brain (tumor or abscess) or the intracranial pressure (ICP) is elevated, as it may lead to brain herniation.