Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Lancashire, UK
Damage Caused By Lumber Puncture? Posted: 04-20-06 01:48am
Hello,
my husband has recently been diagnosed
with relapse remitting ms. He was sent
for a lumber puncture to confirm ms.
Following the lumber puncture proceedure,
he was very ill. His symptoms were as
follows. The most worrying was extreme
pain in his head which would subside if he
lay flat. The pain continued at this
level for two weeks, he couldnt do
anything but lay flat. I telephoned the
hospital and they said it was common for
people to have head ache for a few days,
but that he should drink extra fluids. He
was already drinking 2ltr but forced
himself to drink an extra 2ltrs. He was
not passing urine properly...And still
isnt. His head ache persists, and so does
his inability to pass suficient urine,
aand he is also very constipated. His ms
symptoms appear to be worse then ever...
Despite his improvement prior to the
lumber puncture.
Does anyone know if he could have been
damaged while having the procedure. He
told me that he had to sign a consent form
for the procedure as they were using a new
technique. He was not warned about the
effects of the procedure... Apart from
you may have to rest for the remainder of
the day..
Tricia
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Tamadrummer
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 710 Location: Zephyrhills,Fl
Posted: 04-20-06 12:15pm
His symptoms are normal based on the fact
that they did not do a follow up right
after you called them and told them he was
having terrible headaches.
They should have brought him back in as
soon as you called and told him the
symptoms. About the only fix for that
problems is a blood patch to stop the
leaking of csf. Surprisingly, it seems
that the uk is a place that you do not
want to have an lp done. There are many
folks here that have had terrible
experiences with the procedure over in
europe and mostly in the uk.
I have had several lp/myleograms and have
never exprienced any complications with
leaking post procedure.
They were correct to tell him to drink
lots of fluids and gatorade would probably
have been the best to drink.
Hopefully he is doing better now and to my
knowledge he shouldn't have any further
complications as long as he did not pick
up an infection at the hospital.
Good luck,
brian
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Trixi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Lancashire, UK
Lumbar Puncture Damage? Posted: 04-21-06 00:50am
Hi brian,
my husband is still having terrible
headaches, and is so weak he is unable to
get out of bed for longer than an hour at
a time. He is still unable to pass water
easily, or have his bowels open, this I
think is making the problem worse. I did
phone the hospital yesterday as I am very
concerned about his condition. They said
that he could have a leak, but that he
should get better in another 3 weeks. He
has been told to leave it for three weeks,
and if he isnt better to call them back.
I am disgusted by this advice, as they
obviously dont know or believe the extent
of the problems he is having, despite me
outlining them rigorously. The other
problem that they are aware of, is that he
is living alone at the moment as we have
separated. I dont know what to do, should
I phone the hospital again and tell them
that he cant cope. I feel that I might.
His gp phoned him yesterday and was also
unhappy with the advice given...She said
she would phone them on monday... But it
seems a long time to wait. I am very
worried about him.
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Tamadrummer
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 710 Location: Zephyrhills,Fl
Posted: 04-21-06 06:59am
If there is a different hospital, you need
to get him to it as soon as possible!
This is too long. Narcotic meds will make
his head hurt worse. Tylenol and
water/gatorade are the best for this and
he needs a real doctor to look at him and
you both need to hear from a real doctor
that waiting 3 weeks in excrutiating pain
is what you are supposed to do.
There is no sense to that and that nurse
should be knocked in the nose for telling
your husband to suffer like that.
