Cancer Seeding Risk from an Epidural Blood Patch in Patients with Leukemia or Lymphoma

Lumber punctures are a common procedure in patients with cancer. However, a potential complication of a lumbar puncture is a postdural puncture headache. The risk of neoplastic seeding to the central nervous system has led to concern over performing epidural blood patches (EBPs) for the treatment of postdural puncture headaches in patients with cancer. The goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate cancer seeding in the central nervous system in patients diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma.

Institutional electronic records were queried over a 13-year period from 2000 to 2013 for patients with leukemia and/or lymphoma and who received at least one EBP. Demographic and procedural data, cancer treatments, and mortality were all examined. Patient records were reviewed for evidence of new-onset neoplastic central nervous system seeding after an epidural blood patch.

A total of 80 patients were identified for review. Eighteen patients had a diagnosis of leukemia, and 62 had lymphoma. Following an EBP, none of the patients experienced new cancer or cancer seeding in the central nervous system following an epidural blood patch at a median follow-up of 3.74 years.

Though the risks of EBP in the cancer patient population have been hypothesized, no previous studies have assessed the risk of seeding cancer to the central nervous system. Based on our results, an epidural blood patch bears low risk of cancer seeding when used to treat postdural puncture headache that is unresponsive to conservative treatments.