Omar Viswanath1, Roxanna Rasekhi2, Rekhaben Suthar3, Mark R Jones1, Jacquelin Peck4, Alan D Kaye5. 1. Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 2. Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management, University of Miami School of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami, FL, USA. 3. Department of Anesthesiology, Mt. Sinai Medical Center of Florida, Miami Beach, FL, USA. 4. Department of Anesthesiology, John Hopkins All Children's Hospital, St Petersburg, FL, USA. 5. Department of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA. akaye@lsuhsc.edu.
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Headaches encompass a broad-based category of a symptom of pain in the region of the head or neck. For those patients who unfortunately do not obtain relief from conservative treatment, interventional techniques have been developed and are continuing to be refined in an attempt to treat this subset of patients with the goal of return of daily activities. This investigation reviews various categories of headaches, their pathophysiology, and types of interventional treatments currently available. RECENT FINDINGS: Injection of botulinum toxin has been shown to increase the number of headache free days for patients suffering from chronic tension-type headaches. Suboccipital steroid injection has been demonstrated as a successful treatment option for patients suffering from cluster headache. Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) has been described as a treatment for all types of trigeminal autonomic cephalgias. Percutaneous ONS is a minimally invasive and reversible approach to manage occipital neuralgia performed utilizing subcutaneous electrodes placed superficial to the cervical muscular fascia in the suboccipital area. Radiofrequency lesioning is another commonly used treatment in the management of chronic pain syndromes of the head and neck. If a diagnostic sphenopalatine ganglion block successfully resolves the patient's symptoms, neurolysis can be employed as a more permanent solution. Although many patients who suffer from headaches can be treated with conservative, less-invasive treatments, there still remains at present an ever-increasing need for those patients who are refractory to conservative measures and thus require interventional treatments. These procedures are continually evolving to become safer, more precise, and more readily available for clinicians to provide to their patients.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Headaches encompass a broad-based category of a symptom of pain in the region of the head or neck. For those patients who unfortunately do not obtain relief from conservative treatment, interventional techniques have been developed and are continuing to be refined in an attempt to treat this subset of patients with the goal of return of daily activities. This investigation reviews various categories of headaches, their pathophysiology, and types of interventional treatments currently available. RECENT FINDINGS: Injection of botulinum toxin has been shown to increase the number of headache free days for patients suffering from chronic tension-type headaches. Suboccipital steroid injection has been demonstrated as a successful treatment option for patients suffering from cluster headache. Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) has been described as a treatment for all types of trigeminal autonomic cephalgias. Percutaneous ONS is a minimally invasive and reversible approach to manage occipital neuralgia performed utilizing subcutaneous electrodes placed superficial to the cervical muscular fascia in the suboccipital area. Radiofrequency lesioning is another commonly used treatment in the management of chronic pain syndromes of the head and neck. If a diagnostic sphenopalatine ganglion block successfully resolves the patient's symptoms, neurolysis can be employed as a more permanent solution. Although many patients who suffer from headaches can be treated with conservative, less-invasive treatments, there still remains at present an ever-increasing need for those patients who are refractory to conservative measures and thus require interventional treatments. These procedures are continually evolving to become safer, more precise, and more readily available for clinicians to provide to their patients.
Authors: R Norman Harden; Jerod Cottrill; Christine M Gagnon; Todd A Smitherman; Stephan R Weinland; Beverley Tann; Petra Joseph; Thomas S Lee; Timothy T Houle Journal: Headache Date: 2008-10-24 Impact factor: 5.887
Authors: Terese T Horlocker; Denise J Wedel; John C Rowlingson; F Kayser Enneking; Sandra L Kopp; Honorio T Benzon; David L Brown; John A Heit; Michael F Mulroy; Richard W Rosenquist; Michael Tryba; Chun-Su Yuan Journal: Reg Anesth Pain Med Date: 2010 Jan-Feb Impact factor: 6.288