What Exactly Is A Lumbar Puncture?

If you have spent any time watching the popular television series House

, you may have heard the characters frequently discuss the necessity of performing a lumbar puncture. Whenever this test is portrayed in the program, what you see is a needle being injected into the lower spine. It is no wonder that an alternate name for this test is the "spinal tap."

But what exactly is the purpose of the spinal tap? How does it help medical professionals diagnose and understand certain diseases and conditions? Allow me to share some of the major details of this procedure to help you better understand its importance.

This medical test is meant to withdraw a bodily substance called cerebrospinal fluid (abbreviated as CSF) which surrounds the brain and is also present in the spinal cord, as its name implies. The needle is inserted into the spinal canal between the lumbar vertebrae, which comprise the fraction of the spine in the lower back.

A collection of CSF is taken from the canal to test thoroughly. The fluid should be a clear color, so in regards to its appearance, abnormalities can be detected immediately. But then it is scanned for glucose levels, protein concentration, and the condition of blood cells.

The spinal tap is performed on a patient in order to search for a source for symptoms doctors may believe are caused by serious infections, cancer, inflammation, or even bleeding in the brain or spinal cord. It can also detect serious diseases of the nervous system, such as the potentially fatal Guillain-Barre syndrome.

The pressure of the fluid is also measured, as high pressure in the fluid may be inducing some symptoms. On a few occasions, the lumbar puncture is used to relieve some of this pressure, particularly if there is an excessive concentration of CSF surrounding the brain.

Sometimes, medical professionals use the spinal tap in a reverse manner than the one described early. Instead of removing fluid from the inner canal, treatments for various diseases (such as leukemia) are injected into the CSF.

A medical device company is responsible for supplying hospitals and doctors' offices with the special instruments needed to perform a spinal tap in a safe and sanitary way. After the skin has been cleansed using a soap specific for this purpose, the lower back is covered with a sterile towel. Then a local anesthetic is applied to numb the area.

The needle is connected to a device that measures the "opening," and "closing," pressures which indicate the pressure of the fluid when the sample begins and when the last of the sample has been collected. The whole of the test generally takes a half hour or less.

by: Art Gib

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