UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Occipital Nerve Block for Migraine?

Category: Neurology

Keywords: occipital nerve block, migraine, headache (PubMed Search)

Posted: 2/14/2018 by WanTsu Wendy Chang, MD (Updated: 2/15/2018)
Click here to contact WanTsu Wendy Chang, MD

Greater occipital nerve (GON) block with local anesthetics is an alternate treatment option for headaches.
Zhang et al. conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 7 randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of GON block for migraine.
Pooled outcome suggests that GON block:
- Reduces pain intensity (mean difference -1.24 [-1.98, -0.49], p=0.001)
- Decreases analgesia medication consumption (mean difference -1.10 [-2.07, -0.14], p=0.02)
- Has no significant impact on headache duration (mean difference -6.96 [-14.09, 0.18], p=0.06)

References

Zhang H, Yang X, Lin Y, Chen L, Ye H. The efficacy of greater occipital nerve block for the treatment of migraine: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2018;165:129-133.

Follow me on Twitter @EM_NCC