CJEM Articles: lumbar puncture
Displaying 1-3 of 3 results
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November
2009
11
6
Anne-Maree Kelly, Catherine M. Clement, Debra Eagles, Ian G. Stiell, Jamie Brehaut, Jeffrey J. Perry, Suzanne Mason
Objective: Patients with acute headache often undergo com puted tomography (CT) followed by a lumbar puncture to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage. Our international study exam ined current practice, the perceived need for a clinical deci sion rule for acute headache and the required sensitivity for such a rule.
Methods: We approached 2100 emergency physicians from 4 countries (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States) to participate in our survey by sampling the membership of their emergency associations. We used a modified Dillman technique with 3-5 notifications and a prenotification letter employing a combination of electronic mail and postal mail. Physicians were questioned about neu rologically intact patients who presented with headache. Analysis included both descriptive statistics for the entire sample and stratification by country.
Results: The total response rate was 54.7% (1149/2100). Respondents were primarily male (75.5%), with a mean age of 42.5 years and a mean 12.3 years of emergency depart ment (ED) experience. Of the physicians who responded, 49.5% thought all acute headache patients should be investi gated with CT and 57.4% felt CT should always be followed by lumbar puncture. Of the respondents, 95.7% reported they would consider using a clinical decision rule for patients with acute headache to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage. Respondents deemed the median sensitivity required by such a rule to be 99% (interquartile range 98%-99%). Approxi mately 1 in 5 physicians suggested that 100% sensitivity was required.
Conclusion: Emergency physicians report that they would welcome a clinical decision rule for headache that would determine which patients require costly or invasive tests to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage. The required sensitivity of such a rule was realistic. These results will inform and inspire the development of clinical decision rules for acute headache in the ED.
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September
2008
10
5
James E. Colletti, Martin D. Klinkhammer
A child presenting with petechiae and fever is assumed to have meningococcemia or another form of bacterial sepsis and therefore to require antibiotics, blood cultures, cerebrospinal fluid analysis and hospital admission. A review of the literature challenges this statement and suggests that a child presenting with purpura (or petechiae), an ill appearance and delayed capillary refill time or hypotension should be admitted and treated for meningococcal disease without delay. Conversely, a child with a petechial rash, which is confined to the distribution of the superior vena cava, is unlikely to have meningococcal disease. Outpatient therapy in this context is appropriate. In other children, a reasonable approach would be to draw blood for culture and C-reactive protein (CRP) while administering antibiotics. If the CRP is normal, these children could be discharged to follow-up in 1 day, whereas children with CRP values greater than 6 mg/L would be admitted.
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March
2002
4
2
David Mann
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is an important but uncommon condition in the differential diagnosis of acute headache. Most authorities recommend that patients with suspected SAH undergo noncontrast computed tomography (CT) as a first diagnostic intervention. If the results of the CT scan are negative, a lumbar puncture should be performed. Many nonurban Canadian hospitals do not have CT scanners and must either transfer patients or consider performing lumbar puncture prior to CT. In selected patients, performing lumbar puncture first may be an option, but timing of the procedure and the interpretation of results is important.
