spinal tap

my son had a spinal tap today-the doctor was not able to find the proper area to insert the needle and my son was having a great deal of pain going down his leg and up his back.  My son had to
ask the doctor 3 times for her to stop what she was doing.  So, now the doctor has scheduled him
to go to the hospital for her to do the spinal tap with the help of an x-ray.  Can my son be given anesthesia before the spinal tap this time????  My son is 23 years old and at this point he is saying
he will not keep his appt. next week for the spinal tap again.  I feel I need to find out if there is another doctor in the office with more experience to perform the spinal tap.

[JainMD]

Hi,
If there is failure of previous spinal tap then it is likely that the patient would be non-co-operative next time.
What is your son diagnosed with that he requires spinal tap?
It is important to ensure that patient is co-operative as otherwise spinal tap can damage surrounding nerve root causing pain in lower limbs.
Yes you can ask for anesthesia for your child this time that would help the doctors restrain him.
You are right in thinking that if you get spinal tap done with experience doctor the chances of spinal fluid yield would be high.
Keep us posted if you have any queries.
Bye.

[potterychic927]

hello,

speaking from spinal tap experience, i have had 8 of them, this happened to me too. i could feel pain running down my legs, typically on one side. i would tell the doctor and they would remove the needle and insert again. i asked the doctor why would i be having pain if you just shot me full of numbing medicine? he said that the spinal column is full of nerves and it is possible that the needle may hit one of them. the nerve related to the leg pain is the sciatic nerve. i requested on my 6th spinal after having 2 in a row with that pain like you described to have a different doctor do it. the doctor recommended that i have a spinal tap with flouroscopy <---spelling. it was the best thing i did for myself. unlike sitting hunched over with pillows shoved between your stomach or laying on your side, you lay flat on your stomach. when i was on the table i looked back and it was very cool to see my spine on the screen. but the doctors made me not look when they started the procedure. it was so much better when they did it this way. it was not as painful as the other way. yes, there was the initial pain, but they can see everything under the xray so they dont hit any nerves because they can see it all on the screen. also, the procedure takes a little longer because you are laying and things dont like to flow vertically. so be aware of that. it wasnt a whole huge amount of time longer, but it was slower. i know that spinal taps are scary and painful  and especially painful if not dont right, but if the doctors are saying that your son has to have one, it is to his benefit to deal with the short term pain. i know, for my spinal tap saved my life from meningitis! best of luck

[RHESA]

I TOOK MY HUSBAND TO THE HOSPITAL .WHERE HE WALKED HIMSELF IN   THE HOSPITAL.WAS TALKING TO THE DOCTOR AND ME AND MY DAUGHTER.AND LAUGHING. VERY COHERENT. SPINAL TAP WAS DONE.HE WAS BROUGHT  BACK TO THE ROOM AFTER HAVING THE PROCEDURE DONE. WASN'T ABLE TO SWALLOW,TALK, OR FEED HIMSELF, OR WALK OR LIFT  HIS HEAD. THEY SENT HIM TO A NURSING HOME WHERE HE DIED FIVE WEEKS LATER. THEY WANT TO SAY IT WAS THE ALZHEIMER'S THAT KILLED HIM AT THE AGE OF 56.BUT  I  BELIEVE IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS DONE THERE AT THE HOSPITAL. COULD IT BEEN COMPLICATIONS FROM THE SPINAL TAP.