Intractable Headache Proves Effectiveness in Cervical Neuroblocking
Feb 11, 2025
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Headaches are one of the medical problems experienced by more than half of the world's population. However, existing treatments remain symptomatic, focusing on symptom relief, and effective treatment alternatives are lacking, especially for intractable headache patients who do not respond to general drug treatment.
In theory, the senses in the back half of the head and above the neck are transmitted to the brain through the second and third cervical nerves. However, there have been few studies that have detailed the methods and treatment effects of 'second and third cervical inner branch nerve block' in treating headaches.
Accordingly, the research team analyzed the effectiveness of 107 procedures on 81 intractable headache patients who underwent 'second and third cervical inner branch nerve block surgery' at Soon Chun Hyang University Bucheon Hospital from January 2019 to March 2022. The research team measured the patient's pain intensity with the Visual Analysis Scale (VAS) and investigated the patient's subjective satisfaction after treatment.
As a result, the average pain intensity before the procedure was 7.4 points out of 10, but it decreased significantly to 2.6 points on the first to third days after the procedure and 3.6 points on the third to seventh days, and maintained 4.5 points after 3 months, proving long-term effectiveness. In addition, 40.2% of patients said they experienced more than 90% pain reduction on day 3 of the procedure as a result of subjective satisfaction, and although it tended to decrease gradually over time, the overall significant pain reduction effect was maintained.
Professor Jeong Moon-young "Through this study, 'second and third cervical medial branch nerve block' can be a new treatment option that can expect immediate and long-term pain relief for intractable headache patients who do not improve with medication." In the future, we will expand our research to further improve the quality of life of intractable headache patients", he explained.
The results of this study were recently published in the Korean Journal of Neurosurgery 'Journal of Korean Neurosurgery Society'.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
