My Experience

I had a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and felt fine afterwards. But the next day, by 3 pm, I had probably the worst headache I have ever had. It was so bad I could barely stand up. Over the next three days I had really bad headaches on and off. I saw a doctor and a radiologist determined that the puncture from the lumbar puncture was leaking. I was admitted to the hospital for a procedure called a blood patch, which essentially would fill in the lumbar puncture to stop the headaches.

The radiologist said that he would be performing the blood patch. I had assumed it would be done by an anesthesiologist but the radiologist explained that he would be using advanced technology to locate the puncture and fill it.

I was wheeled into the room where there was a nurse, a radiologist and a technician who helped the radiologist with the equipment he needed to locate the puncture. I lay on my belly with my arms stretched out in front of me. An IV was inserted into my hand.

I believe I was then given an injection in my back that had some form of anesthetic. This injection did not hurt. I waited about 15 minutes and then the radiologist began searching, with the technician, for the exact location to put a needle in the space near the puncture. The next 20 minutes was uncomfortable as he inserted a needle into my back. I am not sure what the radiologist was doing but it seemed liked it took a number of attempts to find the right location and get the needle in properly. It felt like he was pushing very hard, and this was the part of the procedure that hurt the most.

Eventually, the needle was in. Then the nurse drew blood from my arm, which took about 5 minutes. The doctor then took the blood and introduced it into the needle in my back to fill the puncture. That took about 10 minutes.

After the procedure, I was wheeled into the recovery room (really a hallway) and was lying there for at least an hour. I was able to walk out of the hospital and starting feeling better immediately. By the next day, I was almost back to normal.