Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure

Background. Measurement of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure (OP) during lumbar puncture (LP) should be routine practice. In resource-limited centres, spinal manometers are seldom available and alternative procedures to measure CSF OP are undertaken.Objectives. To investigate whether th...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: T Mogambery, A Moodley, C Connolly
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: South African Medical Association 2018-10-01
Series:South African Medical Journal
Online Access:http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/download/12434/8639
_version_ 1797368765260759040
author T Mogambery
A Moodley
C Connolly
author_facet T Mogambery
A Moodley
C Connolly
author_sort T Mogambery
collection DOAJ
description Background. Measurement of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure (OP) during lumbar puncture (LP) should be routine practice. In resource-limited centres, spinal manometers are seldom available and alternative procedures to measure CSF OP are undertaken.Objectives. To investigate whether the intravenous giving set (IVGS) with a measuring tape is a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer.Methods. One hundred patients requiring CSF examination by LP were consecutively recruited in the Department of Medicine at Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. A three-way stopcock was attached to the end of a 22G spinal needle and the IVGS and spinal manometer were attached to the other two openings of the stopcock. CSF OP was consecutively recorded between the two techniques with 50 patients in each group.Results. The mean (standard deviation (SD)) CSF OP of the 100 patients was 22.7 (10.0) cm CSF measured with the manometer v. 16.2 (9.3) cm CSF measured with the IVGS (p<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed similarly significant findings of consistently lower CSF OP with the IVGS, regardless of whether the IVGS reading was done first or second. The manometer detected 34 cases of elevated CSF OP of >25 cm CSF, but the IVGS detected 11 cases only (p<0.001, McNemar’s χ2 test). Similar differences were noted for the subgroups of manometer first and IVGS first. Despite this, linear correlation showed very good correlation (r=0.78) and a 75% agreement between the two techniques. The relationship between the manometer reading and the IVGS reading was M = 0.85V + 8.9 in cm CSF, where M was the manometer reading and V the IVGS reading.Conclusions. The IVGS consistently underestimated the CSF OP against the tried-and-tested spinal manometer, which should be the preferred method of measuring CSF OP. Based on the equation that describes the relationship between the spinal manometer and IVGS reading, the upper limit of normal CSF OP of 25 cm CSF on the manometer is equivalent to 19 cm CSF on the IVGS.Â
first_indexed 2024-03-08T17:37:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-e244af6e4ead4b5ea0f38085dc6be8ce
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 0256-9574
2078-5135
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-08T17:37:27Z
publishDate 2018-10-01
publisher South African Medical Association
record_format Article
series South African Medical Journal
spelling doaj.art-e244af6e4ead4b5ea0f38085dc6be8ce2024-01-02T11:47:06ZengSouth African Medical AssociationSouth African Medical Journal0256-95742078-51352018-10-011081086586910.7196/SAMJ.2018.v108i10.13176Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressureT MogamberyA MoodleyC ConnollyBackground. Measurement of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure (OP) during lumbar puncture (LP) should be routine practice. In resource-limited centres, spinal manometers are seldom available and alternative procedures to measure CSF OP are undertaken.Objectives. To investigate whether the intravenous giving set (IVGS) with a measuring tape is a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer.Methods. One hundred patients requiring CSF examination by LP were consecutively recruited in the Department of Medicine at Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. A three-way stopcock was attached to the end of a 22G spinal needle and the IVGS and spinal manometer were attached to the other two openings of the stopcock. CSF OP was consecutively recorded between the two techniques with 50 patients in each group.Results. The mean (standard deviation (SD)) CSF OP of the 100 patients was 22.7 (10.0) cm CSF measured with the manometer v. 16.2 (9.3) cm CSF measured with the IVGS (p<0.001). Subgroup analysis showed similarly significant findings of consistently lower CSF OP with the IVGS, regardless of whether the IVGS reading was done first or second. The manometer detected 34 cases of elevated CSF OP of >25 cm CSF, but the IVGS detected 11 cases only (p<0.001, McNemar’s χ2 test). Similar differences were noted for the subgroups of manometer first and IVGS first. Despite this, linear correlation showed very good correlation (r=0.78) and a 75% agreement between the two techniques. The relationship between the manometer reading and the IVGS reading was M = 0.85V + 8.9 in cm CSF, where M was the manometer reading and V the IVGS reading.Conclusions. The IVGS consistently underestimated the CSF OP against the tried-and-tested spinal manometer, which should be the preferred method of measuring CSF OP. Based on the equation that describes the relationship between the spinal manometer and IVGS reading, the upper limit of normal CSF OP of 25 cm CSF on the manometer is equivalent to 19 cm CSF on the IVGS.Âhttp://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/download/12434/8639
spellingShingle T Mogambery
A Moodley
C Connolly
Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
South African Medical Journal
title Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
title_full Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
title_fullStr Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
title_full_unstemmed Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
title_short Is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
title_sort is the intravenous giving set a reliable alternative to the spinal manometer in measuring cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure
url http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/download/12434/8639
work_keys_str_mv AT tmogambery istheintravenousgivingsetareliablealternativetothespinalmanometerinmeasuringcerebrospinalfluidopeningpressure
AT amoodley istheintravenousgivingsetareliablealternativetothespinalmanometerinmeasuringcerebrospinalfluidopeningpressure
AT cconnolly istheintravenousgivingsetareliablealternativetothespinalmanometerinmeasuringcerebrospinalfluidopeningpressure