Complications of lumbar puncture in a child treated for leukaemia

Abstract

Lumbar puncture may lead to neurological complications. These include intracranial hypotension, cervical epidural haematomas, and cranial and lumbar subdural haematomas. MRI is the modality of choice to diagnose these complications. This report documents MRI findings of such complications in a child treated for leukaemia.

Lumbar puncture complicated by spinal epidural hematoma in a child with leukemia

“…Spinal epidural hematoma (SEH) is a rare condition, mostly caused by trauma, anticoagulant therapy, arteriovenous malformations, hypertension, blood dyscrasia, pregnancy and childbirth, spinal surgery, and invasive spinal procedures [1][2][3][4]. The clinical features of SEH are that of acute spinal cord compression, along with prolonged and/or severe headache [5][6][7][8], while incidence of paraplegia after LP has been recorded in several studies to vary between 0.0005 and 0.02 % [3,9].…”