Headache and the greater occipital nerve

Abstract

This paper examines the clinical features of 500 patients with idiopathic headache. Of the 383 patients diagnosed as migraine, it was found that 184 (48%) were suffering from headaches due to irritation of the greater occipital nerve (GON). Such headaches could be arrested by injecting the ipsilateral greater occipital nerve (GON) with local anaesthetic, prevented for up to 4 weeks by injecting 'Depomedrol' into the region of the nerve and for several months by surgical division of the nerve. It is suggested that such patients are not suffering from typical migraine but from headaches due to neural irritation, which, for want of a better name, have been called 'occipital neuralgia'.