Sprotte needle for intrathecal anaesthesia for caesarean section: incidence of postdural puncture headache.

Caesarean section was performed under spinal anaesthesia in 55 women using a 25-gauge diamond-tipped needle and in a further 55 mothers with a 24-gauge Sprotte needle. Eight patients (14.5%) developed a headache in the former group, five of whom required a blood patch. There were no headaches reported in the Sprotte group.