Long-term pain relief in patients with cervicogenic headaches after pulsed radiofrequency application into the lateral atlantoaxial (C1-2) joint using an anterolateral approach.

The lateral atlantoaxial joint has long been reported as a source of cervicogenic headache. We present a retrospective study, including 86 patients who had undergone lateral C1-2 joint pulsed radiofrequency application, for cervicogenic headache in a single pain center from March 2007 to December 2008. The percentage of patients who had >or=50% pain relief at 2 months, 6 months, and 1 year were 50% (43/86), 50% (43/86), and 44.2% (38/86), respectively. Long-term pain relief at 6 months and 1 year were predicted reliably by >or=50% pain relief at 2 months (P < 0.001). Apart from 1 patient that complained of increased severity of occipital headache lasting several hours, we had no other reported complications.