Long-term psychological and physical outcomes of women after postdural puncture headache: A retrospective, cohort study

BACKGROUND Postdural puncture headache after accidental dural puncture during labour may lead to chronic sequalae. OBJECTIVES We aimed to measure the incidence of postpartum depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic headache, backache and breastfeeding rates after a postdural puncture headache. DESIGN A retrospective, case-matched cohort study. SETTING A review of documented cases of dural puncture and matched case controls occurring at Rabin Medical Center and Shamir Medical Center from 01 January 2012 to 30 September 2018. PATIENTS The study cohort consisted of women with a documented postdural puncture headache and the controls were women with uneventful labour epidurals in the same 24-h period. Women were interviewed by telephone. PRIMARY OUTCOMES MEASURE The primary outcome measure was the incidence of postpartum depression after a postdural puncture headache. RESULTS Women with postdural puncture headache (n ¼ 132) and controls (n ¼ 276) had similar demographic data. The incidence of postpartum depression was 67/128 (52.3%) versus 31/276 (11.2%) for controls, P < 0.0001, 95% confidence intervals of the difference 31.5 to 50.2. Posttraumatic stress disorder was more frequent among women with postdural puncture headache, 17/132 (12.8%) versus controls 1/276 (0.4%), P < 0.0001, 95% confidence intervals of the difference 7.6 to 19.5. Women with postdural puncture headache breastfed less, 74/126 (54.5%) versus controls 212/276 (76.8%), P < 0.0001, 95% confidence intervals of the difference 33.1 to 55.2. Current headache and backache were significantly more frequent among women with postdural puncture headache [current headache 42/129 (32.6%) versus controls 42/276 (15.2%) P < 0.00001, 95% confidence intervals 0.085 to 0.266; current backache 58/ 129 (43.9%) versus controls 58/275 (21%) P < 0.0001, 95% confidence intervals 14.1 to 33.5]. CONCLUSION We report an increased incidence of postpartum depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic headache and backache and decreased breastfeeding following a postdural puncture headache. Our findings emphasise the need for postpartum follow-up for women with postdural puncture headache. TRIAL REGISTRY NUMBER Clinical trial registry number: NCT03550586.