Premium
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension syndrome treated with a double epidural blood patch
Author(s) -
BELEÑA J. M.,
NUÑEZ M.,
YUSTE J.,
PLAZANIETO J. F.,
JIMÉNEZJIMÉNEZ F. J.,
SERRANO S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.2012.02742.x
Subject(s) - epidural blood patch , medicine , spontaneous intracranial hypotension , intracranial hypotension , cerebrospinal fluid , anesthesia , asymptomatic , surgery , conservative treatment , lumbar puncture , orthostatic vital signs , bed rest , lumbar , refractory (planetary science) , subdural effusion , blood pressure , physics , hydrocephalus , astrobiology
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension ( SIH ) is considered to be a very rare disease. It is characterised by an orthostatic headache in the absence of a past history of a trauma or a dural puncture. SIH is caused by a spontaneous spinal cerebrospinal fluid ( CSF ) leakage demonstrated by neuroradiological studies in most of the patients. Conservative treatment usually includes bed rest, hydration and administration of caffeine or steroids. However, when the patient is refractory to the conservative treatment, an epidural blood patch ( EBP ) is performed. We report a 34‐year‐old woman with SIH and no neuroradiologically demonstrable clear point of CSF leakage, who was treated with a double EBP at two different levels (lumbar and thoracic) in the same procedure. The patient was successfully managed, and she was still asymptomatic at the 18 months follow‐up. After review of literature, we observed that execution of a double EBP at the same time is not a common procedure for treatment of SIH . We consider that simultaneous use of two EBP could be useful as a novel treatment in those cases of SIH without demonstration of CSF leakage.