Long-term relief of posttraumatic headache by sphenopalatine ganglion pulsed radiofrequency lesioning: a case report.

Posttraumatic headache is a common and disabling pain syndrome in patients who sustain a head injury. Unfortunately, conventional treatments may fail or cause intolerable side effects. Because chronic headache may be mediated by central and peripheral neural processes, these structures may be therapeutic targets. One target, the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG), is implicated in several headache disorders and has been lesioned for headache relief. Because of the risks of neurolytic procedures, nonablative procedures that provide pain relief would be useful. We present a case wherein a man in his late twenties with posttraumatic headache obtained more than 17 months of relief with SPG pulsed-mode radiofrequency lesioning. SPG pulsed-mode radiofrequency is a nonablative, neural lesioning method that may be useful in the treatment of posttraumatic headache.