© 2005 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, British Association for Accident & Emergency Medicine, & Faculty of Accident & Emergency Medicine
BEST EVIDENCE TOPIC REPORT
Reinsertion of the stylet before needle removal in diagnostic lumbar puncture
Department of Emergency Medicine, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9WL, UK; s.carley1{at}btinternet.com
Report by Matthew Deibel, Senior Resident
Checked by Jeffrey Jones, Michael Brown, Research Director and Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency programme respectively
A short cut review was carried out to establish whether re-insertion of the stylet before needle removal changed the incidence of post-lumbar puncture syndrome and headache. Altogether 235 papers were found using the reported search, of which two presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. A clinical bottom line is stated.
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