Lumbar Puncture (LP)

Indications, procedure, and CSF interpretation.

Reviewed by Dr Kola Tytler MBBS CertHE MBA MSt MRCGP (General Practitioner)

Last reviewed: 21 October 2025

NeurologyInfectious DiseasesEmergency Medicine

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Clinical Guidelines

NICE guideline NG240: Meningitis (bacterial) and meningococcal disease

NICE Quality statement 2: Lumbar puncture

Aseptic and Bacterial Meningitis: Evaluation, Treatment, and Prevention in Adults

Clinical Practice Guidelines: Lumbar puncture

Consensus guidelines for lumbar puncture in patients with neurological diseases

Evaluation and Management of Well-Appearing Febrile Infants 8 to 60 Days Old

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on postdural puncture headache

NICE guideline CG149: Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia in children and young people

Platelet Transfusion: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the AABB

S1 guidelines “lumbar puncture and cerebrospinal fluid analysis”