FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY OF HEADACHE AFTER LUMBAR MYELOGRAPHY USING A 25-GAUGE PENCIL-POINT (WHITACRE) SPINAL NEEDLE

We studied 63 patients between the ages of 20 and 81 years undergoing lumbar myelography, using a 25-gauge pencil-point (Whitacre) spinal ne edle. With the use of a questionnaire, the incidence and severity of p ost-dural-puncture headache (PDPH) was investigated. There were three patients who complained of PDPH (4.7 %), two of whom described their h eadache as moderate and one as mild on a visual analogue scale. All th e headaches were alleviated by mild analgesics and no patient experien ced severe headache needing treatment with a blood-patch. There were t hree other patients who experienced a post dural-puncture-related head ache which, unlike PDPH, was not postural. Four patients had ordinary mild headache. The quality of the myelograms was good.