Epidural blood patch after thoracotomy for treatment of headache caused by surgical tear of dura.

IMPLICATIONS: During a right lobectomy operation, a patient with carcinoma of the lung developed postoperative headache caused by a leak of cerebrospinal fluid from an area of dura injured during the procedure. Conservative treatment was unsuccessful. Injection of 10 mL of the patient's own blood into the epidural space relieved the headache.