Safety of lumbar puncture in comatose children with clinical features of cerebral malaria.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We assessed the independent association of lumbar puncture (LP) and death in Malawian children admitted to the hospital with the clinical features of cerebral malaria (CM).

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study in Malawian children with clinical features of CM. Allocation to LP was nonrandom and was associated with severity of illness. Propensity score-based analyses were used to adjust for this bias and assess the independent association between LP and mortality.

Results

Data were available for 1,075 children: 866 (80.6%) underwent LP and 209 (19.4%) did not. Unadjusted mortality rates were lower in children who underwent LP (15.3% vs 26.7% in the no-LP group) but differences in covariates between the 2 groups suggested bias in LP allocation. After

SUBMITTER: Moxon CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5135026 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature