Choose Pencan® – because needle design matters.

Pencan®: The Preferred Choice for Spinal Anesthesia and Lumbar Puncture

Clinical guidelines and systematic reviews consistently endorse atraumatic, pencil-point needles as the superior option for spinal anesthesia and lumbar puncture.³ The atraumatic, ogival tip of Pencan® separates dural fibers rather than cutting them, reducing Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) leakage and tissue damage.​⁴
Compared to traditional cutting-tip designs, Pencan® significantly lowers the risk of post-dural puncture headache, enhances patient safety, and improves overall procedural outcomes.⁵

Clinical data show that the use of Pencan® significantly reduces the incidence of post-lumbar puncture headaches—from 7.6% with conventional needles to just 2.3%. In addition, the need for an epidural blood patch is markedly lower, decreasing from 1.8% to only 0.5%. 

Design details can help make a difference

It is well established that atraumatic needle designs help reduce the risk of PDPH. However, atraumatic needles vary significantly between manufacturers in terms of tip geometry, orifice length, and eyelet positioning⁶. These differences can impact performance, safety, and user experience.⁷ Needle design should thus also be considered when choosing an atraumatic needle – not just any atraumatic needle might do.

Our aim: Help improve precision to reduce the risk of failed blocks

To deliver anesthetic effectively, the spinal needle must pass through several anatomical layers: skin, subcutaneous tissue, ligaments, and the dura mater. Success is confirmed by the appearance of CSF in the needle hub. However, needle design affects how reliably and safely this confirmation occurs. 

Partial placement can occur, where the orifice lies between the subarachnoid and epidural spaces. This can lead to incomplete drug delivery, despite apparent CSF flashback, and therefore might increase the likelihood of failed blocks. (Fig 1) Small orifices geometrically are less likely to open in both spaces.⁸

Placing a needle too deep into the spinal space might increase the risk of nerve contact and the chance of paresthesia.⁹ (Fig.2) A shorter tip-to-back-of-eyelet distance could help minimize the insertion depth of the needle tip into the subarachnoid space. It can also enable faster CSF return for better control during placement.

^{Schematic graphic for illustration purposes}