Endoscopic management of contact point headache in patients resistant to medical treatment.

The existence and the best treatment for contact point headache is a controversial issue. Therefore, this study tried to evaluate the response of the patients with a rhinogenic headache who were resistant to medical treatment to endoscopic sinus surgery. Thirty patients who suffered from a unilateral headache or facial ache for at least 1 year and resistant to medical treatment were evaluated in this research. The existence of the contact point was confirmed in CT scan and in nasal endoscopy. Moreover, a positive Lidocaine test was another important factor for selecting patients. Endoscopic surgery was the common method of surgery in patients. After 1 year, the headache and nasal obstruction were assessed according to Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and compared to preoperative VAS. In 30 patients who entered this research, the average headache and nasal obstruction score according to VAS was 7.4 ± 1.4 and 7.9 ± 2.5, respectively. These values consequently decreased to 4.8 ± 2.3 and 3.73 ± 1.7 1 year after surgery, respectively. The overall response rate was 93.3 % and no major complications were seen in this series. If there is strong clinical suspicion and meticulous selection criteria, provided that other causes of headache have been ruled out, endoscopic management of the rhinogenic headache can be effective.