The Responses of the Greater Occipital Nerve Blockade by Local Anesthetics in Headache Patients

摘要

Background: Peripheral nerve blockade has been using in primer headache treatment for a long time. Our aim in this study was to examine the efficiency of greater occipital nerve (GON) blockade in patients with primary headache especially medical overuse headache.Materials and Methods: Sixty-nine headache patients who were treated with greater occipital nerve blockade have been examined retrospectively. Thirty-seven of the patients had migraine, 17 of them had medication overuse headache, 7 of them had autonomic cephalagia, 4 of them had trigeminal neuralgia and 3 of them had cervicogenic headache.Results: It has been observed that the intensity, period and frequency of the pain were significantly reduced after the first blockade and ranged stable in repetitive blockades. For the migraine patients; attack frequency was decreased at 50% rate in the first blockade. Attack period was decreased at 91.6% rate at first, then at repetitive blockades effect proceeded as 95.83% and 72.22% respectively. Similar results were reached in other headache groups as well.Discussion: Patients can have significant symptomatic reliefs with first GON blockade. Repetitive blockades can be used in order to provide continuance in the effect or to provide pain relief until the effect of other preventive treatments will start.