Epidemiology of findings of lumbar puncture among pediatric patients

Objective: Lumbar Puncture (LP) is a common invasive procedure where cerebrospinal fluid is obtained for the diagnosis of neurological anomalies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the results of CSF analysis in patients admitted to pediatric wards. Methods: In this retrospective descriptive study, records of the pediatric patients (aged <18 years) who were referred to our centers for lumbar puncture were evaluated. A checklist was prepared for all the patients where demographic data, findings of CSF and blood analysis and clinical presentations were recorded. The data obtained was analyzed using SPSSv22. Results: In this study a total number of 247 patients were included where 57.9% of the cases were of boys. 55.8% patients aged under 1 year and 62.3% of patients had a body temperature of 38 degrees C and above. 15.3% of the children were diagnosed with meningitis, 27.1% had febrile seizures, 9.3% had neonatal sepsis and for 48.2% cases other clinical diagnoses were made. There was a significant relationship between the diagnosis and the number of WBCs seen in CSF < 0.001). Also, there was a significant relationship between the diagnosis and amount of protein (P < 0.001) and glucose in CSF = 0.005). The age group and the type of fever and seizure were also significantly correlated, (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Lumbar puncture is an important procedure for the diagnosis of several neurological diseases. Further studies including neuroimaging and therapeutic measures are recommended in this regard.