Abstract
Intractable migraine and other headache syndromes affect almost 40 million Americans and many more millions worldwide. Although many treatment protocols exist, mainly designed around medication regimens, there are estimated to be at least 3–5% of these headache sufferers that do not respond in a meaningful way to medications and whose lives can be severely restricted to darkened, quiet rooms, heavy doses of narcotics, failed personal relationships and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. In this article, we describe current neuromodulation-based approach to the management of intractable headache.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bahra A, Matharu MS, Buchel C, Frackowiak RSJ, Goadsby PJ (2001) Brainstem activation specific to migraine headache. Lancet 357: 1016–1017
Bovim G, Fredriksen TA, Stolt-Nielsen A, Sjaastad O (1992) Neurolysis of the greater occipital nerve in cervicogenic headache. A follow up study. Headache 32(4): 175–179
Dubuisson D (1995) Treatment of occipital neuralgia by partial posterior rhizotomy at C1-3. J Neurosurg 82(4): 581–586
Goadsby PJ, Knight YE, Hoskin KL (1997) Stimulation of the greater occipital nerve increases metabolic activity in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis and cervical dorsal horn of the cat. Pain 73(1): 23–28
Headache Classification Committee of The International Headache Society (2004) The international classification of headache disorders, 2nd edn. Cephalalgia 24Suppl 1: 1–160
Joseph B, Kumar B (1994) Gallie’s fusion for atlantoaxial arthrosis with occipital neuralgia. Spine 19(4): 454–455
Lozano AM, Vanderlinden G, Bachoo r, Rothbart P (1998) Microsurgical C-2 ganglionectomy for chronic intractable occipital pain. J Neurosurg 89(3): 359–365
Matharu MS, Bartsch T, Ward N, Frackowiak RS, Weiner R, Goadsby PJ (2004) Central neuromodulation in chronic migraine patients with suboccipital stimulators: a PET study. Brain 127: 220–230
Oh MY, Ortega J, Bellotte JB, Whiting DM, Alo K (2004) Peripheral nerve stimulation for the treatment of occipital neuralgia and transformed migraine using a C1-2-3 subcutaneous paddle style electrode: a technical report. Neuromodulation 7(2): 103–112
Picaza JA, Hunter SE, Cannon BW (1977–78) Pain suppression by peripheral nerve stimulation. Chronic effects of implanted devices. Appl Neurophysiol 40(2–4): 223–234
Pikus HJ, Phillips JM (1997) Outcome of surgical decompression of the second cervical root for cervicogenic headache. Neurosurgery 40(5): 1105–1106
Silberstein SD, Lipton RB, Goadsby PJ (2002) Headache in clinical practice, 2nd edn. Martin Dunitz, London
Waisbrod H, Panhans C, Hansen D, Gerbershagen HU (1985) Direct nerve stimulation for painful peripheral neuropathies. J Bone Joint Surg Br 67(3): 470–472
Weiner RL (2000) The future of peripheral nerve neurostimulation. Neurol Res 22: 299–304
Weiner RL, Reed KL (1999) Peripheral neurostimulation for the control of intractable occipital neuralgia. Neuromodulation 2: 369–375
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Weiner, R.L. (2007). Occipital neurostimulation for treatment of intractable headache syndromes. In: Sakas, D.E., Simpson, B.A., Krames, E.S. (eds) Operative Neuromodulation. Acta Neurochirurgica Supplements, vol 97/1. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-33079-1_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-33079-1_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-211-33078-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-211-33079-1
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)