A lumbar puncture (or LP, and colloquially known as a spinal tap) is a diagnostic and at times therapeutic procedure that is performed in order to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for biochemical, microbiological, and cytological analysis, or very rarely as a treatment ("therapeutic lumbar puncture") to relieve increased intracranial pressure.
Read more about Lumbar Puncture: Indications, Contraindications, Procedure, Risks, Diagnostics, History
Famous quotes containing the word puncture:
“And no one, it seemed, had had the presence of mind
To initiate proceedings or stop the wheel
From the number it was backing away from as it stopped:
It was performing prettily; the puncture stayed unseen....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)