Blocking the greater occipital nerve: utility in headache management.
Occipital nerve block has been part of headache medicine for more than half a century, with injection techniques and solutions varying greatly. Most studies have been case series and many show benefit for patients with migraine, cluster headache, and postconcussive headache. A double-blind, controlled trial of cluster headache has demonstrated that injectable steroids with local anesthetics benefit cluster headache patients. A double-blind, controlled trial of nerve blocks in occipital neuralgia, which may have actually been chronic migraine, was positive.
Young
William B
WB
Department of Neurology, Jefferson Headache Center, Thomas Jefferson University, 111 South Eleventh Street, Gibbon Building, Suite #8130, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA. William.B.Young@jefferson.edu
D000818:Animals; D019468:Disease Management; D006261:Headache / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000379:methods; D013127:Spinal Nerves / Q000502:physiology*