Siddharth Nath, Alex Koziarz, Jetan H Badhiwala, Waleed Alhazzani, Roman Jaeschke, Sunjay Sharma, Laura Banfield, Ashkan Shoamanesh, Sheila Singh, Farshad Nassiri, Wieslaw Oczkowski, Emilie Belley-Côté, Ray Truant, Kesava Reddy, Maureen O Meade, Forough Farrokhyar, Malgorzata M Bala, Fayez Alshamsi, Mette Krag, Itziar Etxeandia-Ikobaltzeta, Regina Kunz, Osamu Nishida, Charles Matouk, Magdy Selim, Andrew Rhodes, Gregory Hawryluk, Saleh A Almenawer
BACKGROUND: Atraumatic needles have been proposed to lower complication rates after lumbar puncture. However, several surveys indicate that clinical adoption of these needles remains poor. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare patient outcomes after lumbar puncture with atraumatic needles and conventional needles. METHODS: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we independently searched 13 databases with no language restrictions from inception to Aug 15, 2017, for randomised controlled trials comparing the use of atraumatic needles and conventional needles for any lumbar puncture indication...
March 24, 2018: Lancet