Cauterization of inferior nasal turbinate for idiopathic headache.
OBJECTIVE
Idiopathic headache is a stressful complaint, whose treatment is not well established. Our study is an attempt to examine the relationship between idiopathic headache and inferior turbinate cauterization as a surgical treatment, and to explain the central physiological effect of cauterization.


METHODS
Thirty-four patients, 15 females and 19 males complaining of idiopathic headache were treated by inferior turbinate cauterization. Cauterization of the inferior-medial aspect of the turbinate was carried out once under local anesthesia for few seconds. This study was performed between November 1993 and December 1996, a joint project of the Zarka Government Hospital, Zarka and Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.


RESULTS
More than 82% of the patients showed significant improvement in the sense of decreased headache.


CONCLUSIONS
Cautery of the nasal turbinate could be a novel method for treatment of idiopathic headache.
Khader
Qasim A
QA
Department of Otolaryngology, Zarka Hospital, Ministry of Health, Zarka, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Abdul-Baqi
Khader J
KJ
Mansour
Abbas H
AH
Mohammed
Faisal I
FI
D000328:Adult; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014420:Turbinates / Q000601:surgery*