Has anyone ever heard of a "blood patch"?

[Jeafl]

My husband is still suffering with headaches, and the doctor thinks it might be leakage from the spinal tap he had in June. He mentioned the possibility of an anesthesiologist giving him a blood patch which may help him. I've never heard of such a thing, so I thought maybe one of you would know. We should have asked the doctor to explain it, but we got distracted and forgot.

 

[EROS]

With spinal taps, some people are left with chronic headaches due to leakage of spinal fluid through the hole in the dura, which is the sheath which covers the cord and lumbar nerve roots. Usually the hole seals over on its own without intervention. Occasionally, the anesthesia folks will take the patient's blood and inject it around the actual hole to effect a blood clot or "patch". Little danger with the procedure, but it is not always successful.........

Good luck,

 

[Luckymommyx2]

I can help with this one. I had a spinal tap done three years ago this month. After I came home I had headaches that cannot be described by words! Eventually after many calls to the doctor they had me return to the hospital for the blood patch. What they do is take blood out of your arm then reinsert it in the hole that is leaking the spinal fluid. The blood works as a patch. After eight holes in my back from the spinal tap I was hoping they would find the right one to patch. The entire procedure was relatively quick, much more so than the spinal tap! I was feeling better within minutes and allowed to go home within an hour or two. Good luck to you and your husband! Let us know how it goes!!

 

[Dream]

I have seen many people have great success with this treatment...of course there are always a few it doesn't help. It's worth a try to get rid of those debilatating headaches. Good luck!

 

[Kermit]

The process is described in all of my pregnancy books, and there aren't any side effects listed in those books. I'm sure there probably are some side effects, but they have to be worth it based on the description of how bad those headaches are.

Good luck to your DH!

 

[snuggles]

My mom has had at least one of them. It sure made a difference! She was having awful headaches and nothing else would stop them. Hope your dh feels better soon.

 

[Shannon D]

I had this done after the birth of my first baby (when they botched my epidural during labor)
Doc came in 2 days later and did the patch...as mentioned, blood taken from arm to 'patch' and I was feeling better within the hour and released from the hospital 2 hours later.
What a relief.
Best of luck to your husband...I hope it works as well for him.

 

[yensid1071]

I had a series of epidural steroid injections on my lower back a number of years ago. During one, I got "tapped." The anesthesiologist did the blood patch, but it didn't hold. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure it would have, but we think the steroid diluted the blood, causing the patch to be weak. It just never took hold. A couple days later, after enduring those *INTENSE* headaches, they took me in, drugged me up & did it again. Worked like a charm that time.

That's when I found out that caffeine helps your body produce spinal fluid (on the return trip they gave me a painkiller & caffeine IV). So, using that info, you can now tell people you drink coffee & soft drinks for medicinal purposes.

Good luck to your DH!! I hope the patch helps!!!