champagne tap

champagne tap

English

Etymology

An indication of atraumaticity in the proceduralist's technique, warranting the reward of a bottle of champagne from their superior, the colour of which also matches that of the cerebrospinal fluid sample.

Noun

champagne tap (plural champagne taps)

1. (medicine, figuratively, informal) A bloodless sample of cerebrospinal fluid from a lumbar puncture (colloquially, a spinal tap).
   • year unknown, Sandeep Jauhar, The Intern:Doctor's Initiation, Penguin Books India (→ISBN), page 39:

     When the needle finally perforated the sac around the spinal column, clear fluid bubbled back through the hub. The resident congratulated me on a “champagne tap”, free of blood. We sent the fluid off to the laboratory.

   • 2008, Emergency Medicine

     While I can't vouch for the efficacy of this trick, anything that stacks the deck in favor of a “champagne tap” is worth a shot.

   • 2010, Tilda Shalof, A Nurse's Story, McClelland & Stewart (→ISBN), page 9:

     She told me earlier that she was looking forward to performing it and hoped for a “champagne tap”.

   • 2014, Anna Donald, Mike Stein, Ciaran Scott Hill, Selina Chavda, The Hands-on Guide to the Foundation Programme, John Wiley & Sons (→ISBN), page 184:

     If no vessels are hit, you may obtain a ‘champagne tap’; if this clear-coloured CSF is obtained on your first ever attempt, then custom dictates that your senior should buy you a bottle of champagne to celebrate!