• Anirban Pal, Amita Acharya, Nidhi Dawar Pal, Satrajit Dawn, and Jhuma Biswas.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Calcutta National Medical College (CNMC), Kolkata, India.
• Anesth Essays Res. 2011 Jul 1; 5 (2): 162-6.

BackgroundPostdural puncture headache (PDPH) is a distressing complication of the subarachnoid block. The previous studies conducted, including the recent ones, do not conclusively prove that pencil-point spinal needles decrease the incidence of PDPH. In this study, we have tried to find out whether a pencil-point Whitacre needle is a better alternative than the classic cutting beveled, commonly used, Quincke spinal needle, in patients at risk of PDPH.Materials And MethodsThree hundred and twenty obstetric patients, 20-36 years of age, ASA I and II, posted for Cesarean section under subarachnoid block, were randomly assigned into two groups W and Q, where 25G Whitacre and 25G Quincke spinal needles were used, respectively. The primary objective of the study was to find out the difference in incidence of PDPH, if any, between the two groups, by using the t test and Chi square test.ResultsThe incidence of PDPH was 5% in group W and 28.12% in group Q, and the difference in incidence was statistically significant (P<0.001).ConclusionThe pencil-point 25G Whitacre spinal needle causes less incidence of PDPH compared to the classic 25G Quincke needle, and is recommended for use in patients at risk of PDPH.

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