Success Determination of Lumbar Drainage in Cranial Traumatic CSF Fistula

Introduction: The management of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistulae after skull base surgery or trauma is challenging for the neurosurgeons. Surgical exploration and repair is an option but it is an invasive procedure with possibility of failure to detect fistulae. Placement of lumbar drain has shown variable success rate in different studies. This study was conducted to determine the success of lumbar drains. Objective: To determine the frequency of success of lumbar drainage in cranial traumatic CSF fistula. Patient and Method: This descriptive case series was done at the department of Neurosurgery, PGMI/ Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. This study included 50 patients with CSF fistulae. All the patients had placement of lumbar drain to deal with fistulae. The patients were followed up for stoppage of leakage within 10 days, releakage after 48 hours of the removal of drain. The main outcome was success of the procedure. Results: The procedure was found to be successful among 42 (84%) patients, while among 8 (16%) patients, the procedure was not successful. Conclusion: The use of lumbar drain has shown high frequency of success and is recommended among patients with CSF fistulae in our setup.