- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 24.1 Introduction and approach to the patient with neurological disease
- 24.2 Mind and brain: building bridges linking neurology, psychiatry, and psychology
- 24.3 Clinical investigation of neurological disease
- 24.3.1 Lumbar puncture
- 24.3.2 Electrophysiology of the central and peripheral nervous systems
- 24.3.3 Imaging in neurological diseases
- 24.3.4 Investigation of central motor pathways: magnetic brain stimulation
- 24.4 Higher cerebral function
- 24.5 Epilepsy and disorders of consciousness
- 24.6 Disorders of the special senses
- 24.7 Disorders of movement
- 24.8 Headache
- 24.9 Brainstem syndromes
- 24.10 Specific conditions affecting the central nervous system
- 24.11 Infections of the central nervous system
- 24.12 Disorders of cranial nerves
- 24.13 Disorders of the spinal cord
- 24.14 Diseases of the autonomic nervous system
- 24.15 The motor neuron diseases
- 24.16 Diseases of the peripheral nerves
- 24.17 Inherited neurodegenerative diseases
- 24.18 Developmental abnormalities of the central nervous system
- 24.19 Acquired metabolic disorders and the nervous system
- 24.20 Neurological complications of systemic disease
- 24.21 Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes
- 24.22 Autoimmune limbic encephalitis and Morvan’s syndrome
- 24.23 Disorders of the neuromuscular junction
- 24.24 Disorders of muscle
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine
(p. 4749) Lumbar puncture
- Chapter:
- (p. 4749) Lumbar puncture
- Author(s):
Roger A. Barker
, Wendy Phillips
, and R. Rhys Davies
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199204854.003.24301
Lumbar puncture provides the means to sample cerebrospinal fluid for diagnostic purposes and to remove it for some therapeutic purposes. The procedure allows measurement of the pressure of cerebrospinal fluid, its cytological composition, biochemical content, and microbial as well as serological characteristics.
Indications—the commonest diagnostic indications are clinical suspicion of central nervous system infection (meningitis, encephalitis), subarachnoid haemorrhage, and demyelinating diseases (central and peripheral); the commonest therapeutic indications are idiopathic intracranial hypertension and for intrathecal administration of drugs....
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- 1 On being a patient
- 2 Modern medicine: foundations, achievements, and limitations
- 3 Global patterns of disease and medical practice
- 4 Cell biology
- 5 Immunological mechanisms
- 6 Principles of clinical oncology
- 7 Infection
- 8 Sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health
- 9 Chemical and physical injuries and environmental factors and disease
- 10 Clinical pharmacology
- 11 Nutrition
- 12 Metabolic disorders
- 13 Endocrine disorders
- 14 Medical disorders in pregnancy
- 15 Gastroenterological disorders
- 16 Cardiovascular disorders
- 17 Critical care medicine
- 18 Respiratory disorders
- 19 Rheumatological disorders
- 20 Disorders of the skeleton
- 21 Disorders of the kidney and urinary tract
- 22 Disorders of the blood
- 23 Disorders of the skin
- 24 Neurological disorders
- 24.1 Introduction and approach to the patient with neurological disease
- 24.2 Mind and brain: building bridges linking neurology, psychiatry, and psychology
- 24.3 Clinical investigation of neurological disease
- 24.3.1 Lumbar puncture
- 24.3.2 Electrophysiology of the central and peripheral nervous systems
- 24.3.3 Imaging in neurological diseases
- 24.3.4 Investigation of central motor pathways: magnetic brain stimulation
- 24.4 Higher cerebral function
- 24.5 Epilepsy and disorders of consciousness
- 24.6 Disorders of the special senses
- 24.7 Disorders of movement
- 24.8 Headache
- 24.9 Brainstem syndromes
- 24.10 Specific conditions affecting the central nervous system
- 24.11 Infections of the central nervous system
- 24.12 Disorders of cranial nerves
- 24.13 Disorders of the spinal cord
- 24.14 Diseases of the autonomic nervous system
- 24.15 The motor neuron diseases
- 24.16 Diseases of the peripheral nerves
- 24.17 Inherited neurodegenerative diseases
- 24.18 Developmental abnormalities of the central nervous system
- 24.19 Acquired metabolic disorders and the nervous system
- 24.20 Neurological complications of systemic disease
- 24.21 Paraneoplastic neurological syndromes
- 24.22 Autoimmune limbic encephalitis and Morvan’s syndrome
- 24.23 Disorders of the neuromuscular junction
- 24.24 Disorders of muscle
- 25 The eye
- 26 Psychiatry and drug related problems
- 27 Forensic medicine
- 28 Sports medicine
- 29 Geratology
- 30 Pain
- 31 Palliative medicine
- 32 Biochemistry in medicine
- 33 Acute medicine