Because the lumbar puncture is located in the gap between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae of the spine, the length of the spinal cord is different from that of the spine during human development. At this stage, there is no spinal cord, so parents don't have to worry about damaging the spinal cord during puncture.
Some parents think that lumbar puncture is "pulling out the brain and spinal cord", which will make children stupid. This understanding is also wrong. Lumbar puncture is actually not the "cerebrospinal fluid" that people think, but the "cerebrospinal fluid". Cerebrospinal fluid is just a colorless transparent liquid circulating on the surface of brain and spinal cord, which is constantly updated and produces 0.3~0.4ml of cerebrospinal fluid per minute. It can be seen that according to its production speed, it takes about 10 minutes for doctors to extract 3ml of cerebrospinal fluid during a lumbar puncture, and they can be used again.
Since lumbar puncture is not as terrible as expected, is it necessary to have an examination? The answer is yes. First, let's look at the properties of cerebrospinal fluid. Cerebrospinal fluid is an extracellular fluid. The brain and spinal cord are immersed in cerebrospinal fluid. When the brain, spinal cord, spinal cord and blood vessels are diseased, the pressure and composition of cerebrospinal fluid can change. Therefore, in the diagnosis of some pediatric diseases, we often use lumbar puncture to collect a small amount of cerebrospinal fluid for testing to help the diagnosis, so that doctors can formulate targeted treatment plans as soon as possible. If these seemingly terrible but necessary tests are rejected because of parents' misunderstanding, taking purulent meningitis as an example, early diagnosis and targeted medication can be made through lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid aspiration. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are very important for prognosis. If we miss the opportunity of diagnosis and treatment, the consequences will be unimaginable.
In addition, the success of lumbar puncture is closely related to the cooperation of children and their families. In fact, when the waist is tied, the doctor will give the child local anesthesia, and the child's pain is similar to that of ordinary muscle injection. Therefore, for parents, first of all, they should calm their emotions, reduce their anxiety, and don't give their children a little discomfort. Then we should encourage children more, appease them and let them turn their attention to what they like. During lumbar puncture, the child's body should be in flexion position as much as possible, and the knee joint should be as close to the chest as possible to fully expose the space between vertebrae, so as to facilitate the doctor to insert the needle smoothly. Once the lumbar puncture needle enters the child's body, the child should try to avoid coughing and make posture changes to avoid touching the paravertebral nerve and causing discomfort. After lumbar puncture, children should generally lie flat for about 6 hours. The purpose of lying flat is to prevent the change of intracranial pressure after lumbar puncture.
In a word, as long as doctors have a reasonable grasp of indications, follow normal operating norms, operate carefully, and children and their families actively cooperate, lumbar puncture is safe without obvious side effects and sequelae, and parents should correctly understand and accept it so as not to miss the best opportunity for diagnosis and treatment.