In memory clinics, the lumbar puncture (LP) is increasingly being used to evaluate cerebrospinal fluid for biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Post-lumbar puncture headache (PLPH) is the most frequent complication of LP, and can prove to be a barrier for the performance of LP.

We retrospectively collected data from 59 subjects (patients with AD and cognitively healthy controls) who were enrolled in a study aimed to identify AD biomarkers via LP. In order to determine whether subjects experienced PLPH, we assessed recorded follow-up telephone interviews. To analyze the association between the occurrence of PLPH and several demographic- and procedure-related factors, a multiple logistic regression analysis with backward stepwise method was performed.

The overall frequency of PLPH was 49.15%. PLPH was more frequent in younger subjects and clinical diagnosis was associated with PLPH. The use of cutting-edge needles was also suggested as a statistically significant factor in the development of PLPH, and was determined to be the only factor that could be modified in order to lower the frequency of PLPH.

Age, clinical diagnosis, and needle type were all determined to be predictive factors of PLPH.