Research indicates PDPH occurrence rates around 33% or higher in the field of radiology.* This is dramatically higher when compared to other specialities that have adopted atraumatic needles.
The Gertie Marx needle has been engineered to minimize PDPH and has a proven track record of <1% occurrence of PDPH when administered with proper skill and technique. The superior design of the Gertie Marx needle continues to improve procedural outcomes in the field of radiology.
Clinical Studies
Use of atraumatic spinal needles among neurologists in the United States.
Atraumatic spinal needles for lumbar puncture have been shown to dramatically decrease the risk of postdural puncture headache. Although the use of these needles is standard practice among anesthesiologists, they have not been adopted by other medical specialties. This may lead to unnecessary morbidity among patients undergoing lumbar puncture.
Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is a potential expected complication of a lumbar puncture Incidence has been estimated quite variable in the literature, but may be approximately 10% to 40% of LP procedures, but can be as low as 2% when small gauge (less than or equal to 24 gauge) non-cutting needles are used.
There is room for improvement in the prevention and treatment of headache after lumbar puncture.
The incidence of post dural puncture headache (PDPH) after lumbar puncture (LP) can be reduced from 36% to 0-9% by the use of an atraumatic needle size 24 gauge (G)/0.56 mm rather than a traumatic needle size 22 G/0.7 mm.
