Pamela Blake1, Rony-Reuven Nir2,3, Carlton J Perry4, Rami Burstein2,3. 1. 1 Headache Center of Greater Heights, Memorial Hermann Greater Heights Hospital, Houston, TX, USA. 2. 2 Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA. 3. 3 Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. 4. 4 River Oaks Plastic Surgery Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The therapeutic benefit of nerve decompression surgeries for chronic headache/migraine are controversial. AIM: To provide clinical characteristics of headache type and treatment outcome of occipital nerve decompression surgery. METHODS: A retrospective review of clinical records. Inclusion criteria were evidence of chronic occipital headache with and without migrainous features and tenderness of neck muscles, occipital allodynia, and inadequate response to prophylactic drugs. RESULTS: Surgical decompression of the greater and lesser occipital nerves provided complete and extended (3-6 years) relief of new daily persistent headache in case 3 (46 year old female), and of chronic post-traumatic headache in cases 4 and 6 (35 and 30 year old females, respectively), partial relief of chronic headache/migraine in cases 1 and 2 (41 year old female and 36 year old male), and no relief of episodic (cases 3 and 4) or chronic migraine (case 5, 52 year old male), or chronic tension-type headache (case 7, 31 year old male). CONCLUSIONS: As a case series, this study cannot test a hypothesis or determine cause and effect. However, the complete elimination of new daily persistent headache and post-traumatic headache, and the partial elimination of chronic headache/migraine in two patients - all refractory to other treatment approaches - supports and justifies the effort to continue to generate data that can help determine whether decompression nerve surgeries are beneficial in the treatment of certain types of chronic headache.
BACKGROUND: The therapeutic benefit of nerve decompression surgeries for chronic headache/migraine are controversial. AIM: To provide clinical characteristics of headache type and treatment outcome of occipital nerve decompression surgery. METHODS: A retrospective review of clinical records. Inclusion criteria were evidence of chronic occipital headache with and without migrainous features and tenderness of neck muscles, occipital allodynia, and inadequate response to prophylactic drugs. RESULTS: Surgical decompression of the greater and lesser occipital nerves provided complete and extended (3-6 years) relief of new daily persistent headache in case 3 (46 year old female), and of chronic post-traumatic headache in cases 4 and 6 (35 and 30 year old females, respectively), partial relief of chronic headache/migraine in cases 1 and 2 (41 year old female and 36 year old male), and no relief of episodic (cases 3 and 4) or chronic migraine (case 5, 52 year old male), or chronic tension-type headache (case 7, 31 year old male). CONCLUSIONS: As a case series, this study cannot test a hypothesis or determine cause and effect. However, the complete elimination of new daily persistent headache and post-traumatic headache, and the partial elimination of chronic headache/migraine in two patients - all refractory to other treatment approaches - supports and justifies the effort to continue to generate data that can help determine whether decompression nerve surgeries are beneficial in the treatment of certain types of chronic headache.
Authors: James N Weinstein; Jon D Lurie; Tor D Tosteson; Brett Hanscom; Anna N A Tosteson; Emily A Blood; Nancy J O Birkmeyer; Alan S Hilibrand; Harry Herkowitz; Frank P Cammisa; Todd J Albert; Sanford E Emery; Lawrence G Lenke; William A Abdu; Michael Longley; Thomas J Errico; Serena S Hu Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2007-05-31 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Rami Burstein; Andrew M Blumenfeld; Stephen D Silberstein; Aubrey Manack Adams; Mitchell F Brin Journal: Headache Date: 2020-06-30 Impact factor: 5.887