Blood Patch

I work in pain management as a murse, and blood patches tend to have a negative connotation, usually because the patient gets pushed onto the schedule [rightful so] to relieve a rare complication of an epidural steroid injection [usually works] that some physician that does not work in our practice performed [99% of the time].

Cool concept though.

I have done 8-10 of them over the past year, and honestly it is a pretty cool concept. 90% get relief almost immediately, and 90% of the remaining 10% get relief with the second attempt. Its really neat seeing the pain go away, just sort of drained from their faces.

Speaking from a patient's perspective....it is awesome!

My spinal headache was truly the most painful and incapacitating event of my life and I've had 3 children!!! Thank the Lord someone figured out how to relieve such pain. Kudos to those who fix it!

We don't get much call for relieving spinal headaches. I think I've had to do 2 in 5 years. (Others in our practice have done some also).

Blood patches work great. But we all need to remember to start treating the suspected potential spinal headaches before they occur with a lot of fluids, caffeine and appropriate narcotics.

We don't get much call for relieving spinal headaches. I think I've had to do 2 in 5 years. (Others in our practice have done some also).

Blood patches work great. But we all need to remember to start treating the suspected potential spinal headaches before they occur with a lot of fluids, caffeine and appropriate narcotics.

The majority of patients we get for blood patches are from spinal taps and myelograms - very few come from wet taps from anesthesia. We usually get them on an ER referral.