ABSTRACT
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a syndrome characterized by postural headache without trauma, spinal anesthesia or other medical history. The headache is usually resolved in a few days or weeks if the patient remains in bed with good hydration. Relief can usually be obtained by the application of a blood patch, by injecting 10-20 ml of the patient's own blood into the epidural space close to the leakage site. In the overwhelming majority of patients, the leak is at the level of the spine, particularly the thoracic spine and cervicothoracic junction. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension presenting with mental change has rarely been reported. We report a 39 years old male patient who was diagnosed with spontaneous intracranial hypotension. The patient experienced continuous headache followed by slight mental change. The patient was successfully managed by 3 episodes of epidural blood patch.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Male , Anesthesia, Spinal , Blood Patch, Epidural , Epidural Space , Headache , Hematoma, Subdural , Intracranial Hypotension , SpineABSTRACT
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a syndrome characterized by postural headache without trauma, spinal anesthesia or other medical history. The headache is usually resolved in a few days or weeks if the patient remains in bed with good hydration. Relief can usually be obtained by the application of a blood patch, by injecting 10-20 ml of the patient's own blood into the epidural space close to the leakage site. In the overwhelming majority of patients, the leak is at the level of the spine, particularly the thoracic spine and cervicothoracic junction. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension presenting with mental change has rarely been reported. We report a 39 years old male patient who was diagnosed with spontaneous intracranial hypotension. The patient experienced continuous headache followed by slight mental change. The patient was successfully managed by 3 episodes of epidural blood patch.