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What do you do when headache appears clinically attributed to intracranial hypotension but imaging and opening pressure are normal or not obtainable?

In light of a study by Caroll et al., PMID 38820488 on epidural blood patches for patients with headaches attributed to SIH that were non-conforming to ICHD-3 criteria.
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Do you offer epidural blood patch to patients with clinical features of headache attributed to spontaneous intracranial hypotension but lack confirmation on imaging or opening pressure?

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3 Answers
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Neurology · Greater Boston Headache Center at Boston Advanced Medicine
Answered on

Regarding the IHS classification and diagnostic criteria, it is important to remember the following:

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Neurology · UPMC
Answered on

If one is presenting with clearly positional headaches where my clinical suspicion is high for spontaneous intracranial hypotension, I would start with an empiric lumbar blood patch. I may consider more than one empiric lumbar blood patch. If no improvement is seen, then my next step would depend on...

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Neurology · UCLA
Answered on

I like this paper by Carroll et al., PMID 38820488, and many other good headache clinicians. If you think a headache has clinical characteristics of low CSF pressure headache, you should treat with lying flat and any other non-invasive techniques for a few days. If the headache persists, an epidural...

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