Caffeine Versus Placebo for Spinal Headaches

A Prospective Trial of IV Caffeine vs Placebo for Post-Dural-Puncture Headache in the Emergency Department

Status

Withdrawn

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT00809627

Enrollment

Registered

2008-12-17

Start date

2007-01-31

Completion date

2008-05-31

Last updated

2025-08-15

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Post Dural Puncture Headache

Keywords

headache, caffeine, pain

Brief summary

Caffeine will be studied against placebo in patients with positional headache after a lumbar puncture (aka spinal headache).

Detailed description

Pain will be assessed at set intervals using a Visual Analog Scale. Blood patch therapy will be offered to all those still in pain at the end of one hour after drug administration.

Interventions

DRUGCaffeine

Caffeine 500 mg IV

DRUGsaline

Normal saline

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 50 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* diagnosed with post dural puncture headache

Exclusion criteria

* age \< 18 * pregnant * allergic to caffeine * cardiac or peripheral vascular disease * uncontrolled hypertension

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Pain as measured by Visual Analog Scale	60 minutes

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026