Testing & Diagnosis for Meningitis in Children
How does a doctor know that it’s meningitis?
In addition to a complete medical history, physical exam, and blood tests, your child’s doctor may need to perform other procedures to confirm that your child has meningitis, including:
- A special needle is placed into your child’s lower back into the spinal canal.
- It measures the pressure in the spinal canal and brain.
- A small amount of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) can be removed and sent for testing to determine if there is an infection or other problems.
- We don’t recommend this if your child is very ill.
- also called a CT or CAT scan
- uses a combination of x-rays and computer technology to produce cross-sectional images (often called slices), both horizontally and vertically, of the body
- shows detailed images of any part of the body, including the bones, muscles, fat, and organs.
- more detailed than general x-rays
