We are almost ready to talk about how to do the lumbar puncture. First, an introduction to the equipment you will be using. The lumbar puncture kit contains: two sterile drapes, three cleaning sponges, a 20 gauge spinal needle, a 25 gauge and a 20 gauge needle for anesthetic infiltration, a 3cc syringe, a vial of 1% lidocaine for anesthesia, a pressure manometer with tubing, four collection vials and a Band-Aid. The other tools you may need include sterile gloves, a facemask, a gown, and proviodine cleaning solution. If you are performing the lumbar puncture with a small atraumatic needle as discussed later, you will need to add to the kit a small gauge Sprotte or Whitacre needle and a regular 18 gauge needle. The kit should look similar to the photograph below:

Figure 3. LP tray