Does Static Ultrasound-Preview Reduce the Incidence of Difficult Lumbar Puncture?

St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Subarachnoid Hemorrhage; Meningitis; Headache

Treatments: Device: Ultrasound

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00317382

03-148

Details and patient eligibility

About

Does the use of ultrasound facilitate a lumbar puncture by reducing the number of difficult and traumatic lumbar punctures?

Full description

This is a controlled trial randomizing lumbar puncture patients to groups utilizing ultrasound to preview the bony structures of the spine versus using standard palpation technique. The goal is to determine the helpfulness of ultrasound in performing lumbar punctures (to reduce difficult and traumatic lumbar punctures) among patients whose spines cannot be easily visualized.

Enrollment: 60 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age greater than 18
• Clinical need for lumbar puncture
• Unable to visualize spine in position for the lumbar puncture

Exclusion criteria

• Able to visualize the spinous processes

Trial design

Primary purpose: Diagnostic

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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60 participants in 2 patient groups

No Ultrasound

No Intervention group

Description:

Standard LP without ultrasound use

Ultrasound Use

Experimental group

Description:

Ultrasound used to assess spine and best location for lumbar puncture.

Treatment:

Device: Ultrasound