Should lumbar puncture be routinely performed in patients with suspected bacteremia

In an attempt to develop a rational basis for performing lumbar puncture in sepsis workups, the hypothesis was tested that, for each of eight variables with a known association with bacteremia, the frequencies for patients having bacterial meningitis would be significantly greater than those in patients having bacteremia alone. In a one-year period, 168 lumbar punctures were performed in children having a mean age of 7.3 months. Patients were assigned to four groups: bacterial meningitis, bacteremia only, aseptic meningitis, and normal. Mean age, frequencies of symptoms, clinical appearances, ethnic groups, and sex ratio were determined for all groups. Frequencies of eight variables were determined and compared between Groups I and II. Results indicated that frequencies were not significantly different for groups I and II and that lethargy and petechiae, although distinguishing between groups I and IV, did not distinguish among the three groups having serious disease. It was concluded that since one cannot distinguish among groups having serious disease, all such patients suspected of sepsis should undergo lumbar puncture.