[Lumbar puncture].

Abstract

A lumbar puncture is a commonly performed procedure to facilitate the diagnosis of various neurological and neurosurgical diseases such as metastasic brain cancer, subarachnoid hemorrhage, meningitis, Guillain Barré syndrome, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. During the procedure, intracranial pressure (ICP) can be assessed indirectly by using the opening pressure and a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is obtained for diagnostic purposes. A lumbar puncture can also be used for drug administration or radiodiagnostic tests such as a myelogram and CSF flow study.