A type of medical test used as an alternative or complement to the lumbar puncture, in which a small amount of fluid is removed from the base of the brain.
A spinal puncture with a hollow needle between the cervical vertebrae, through the dura mater, and into the cisterna at the base of the brain. This is done to inject a drug as in meningitis or cerebral syphilis, to remove spinal fluid for diagnostic purposes, or to reduce intracranial pressure. It should be used as a source of spinal fluid only if fluid cannot be obtained by lumbar puncture.