Spinal taps are done at the Division of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology of UPMC Children’s. They also may be done while your child is a patient in the hospital. After you have registered your child at the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Registration Desk, you will be asked to sit in the waiting area.
We invite one parent or guardian to stay with your child during the treatment. Other adults and siblings must stay in the waiting room during the procedure.
- You and your child will be called to the examining room and asked some screening questions by one of the doctor’s assistants. The assistant will take your child’s vital signs, weight, and medical history. As the parent or legal guardian, you will be asked to sign a consent form for the sedation medication to be given.
- You may ask any questions or discuss concerns about your child’s treatment at this time.
- Your child may wear normal clothes to the procedure.
- Your wait time will vary, depending on how many children are being seen that day and the type of procedure that has been ordered for your child. Since every child is different, the length of time needed to do each treatment also will vary. Please be patient with the medical staff.