Evaluation of the effectiveness of CT-guided infiltration in the treatment of Arnold's neuralgia.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of computed tomography (CT)-guided infiltration in the treatment of Arnold's neuralgia.


METHODS
A retrospective study included 31 patients suffering from Arnold's neuralgia and having undergone a total of 45 CT-guided infiltrations of the greater occipital nerve (GON), in a proximal site (emergence of the GON, technique 1, n = 24) or in two proximal sites (emergence of the GON and at the site of the first bend of the GON drawn by the GON, technique 2, n = 21). Infiltration was considered to be effective when pain relief was equal to or greater than 50% for at least 1 month.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference between the two techniques regarding immediate pain relief effect (53.3% for technique 1 vs. 60.5% for technique 2, p = 0.5), but technique 2 yielded better persistence of pain relief effect (p = 0.01), leading to a significantly higher percentage of effective infiltrations with technique 2 (p = 0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
Infiltrations carried out in a single site yield results that are comparable to those previously published. Infiltrations in two sites provide significantly better results and should now be preferred to other single-site techniques in order to reduce the rate of failure or recurrence of Arnold's neuralgia.
Aubry
Sébastien
S
Département de Radiologie, CHU Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. radio.aubry@free.fr
Kastler
Bruno
B
Bier
Vincent
V
Hadjidekov
Vassil
V
Hussein
Hussein Haj
HH
Fergane
Bernard
B
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008297:Male; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods*; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015641:Radiography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000779:Anesthetics, Local