Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May 1;17(3):e477-82.
doi: 10.4317/medoral.17578.

Clinical course of patients with episodic cluster headache treated with corticosteroids inproximity to the sphenopalatine ganglion: a preliminary study of 23 patients

Maria Peñarrocha-Diago  1 , Araceli Boronat, David Peñarrocha-Oltra, Javier Ata-Ali, Jose V Bagan, Miguel Peñarrocha-Diago
Affiliations

Clinical course of patients with episodic cluster headache treated with corticosteroids inproximity to the sphenopalatine ganglion: a preliminary study of 23 patients

Maria Peñarrocha-Diago et al. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal. .

Abstract

Objective: A study is made of the clinical course of patients with episodic cluster headache following the injection of corticosteroids in the proximity of the sphenopalatine ganglion of the affected side.

Study design: A retrospective observation study was made corresponding to the period between 2006 and 2010. Patients with episodic cluster headache received corticosteroid infiltrations in the vicinity of the sphenopalatine ganglion. Data were collected to assess the clinical course, quantifying pain intensity and quality of life. A total of 23 patients (11 women and 12 men) with a mean age of 50.4 years (range 25-65) were included. Forty percent of the patients had undergone dental extractions in the quadrant affected by the pain, before the development of episodic cluster headache, and 37.8% underwent extractions in the same quadrant after appearance of the headache.

Results: Most of the patients suffered 1-3 attacks a day, with a duration of pain of between 31-90 minutes. The mean pain intensity score during the attacks at the time of the first visit was 8.8 (range 6-10), versus 5.4 (range 3-9) one week after the first corticosteroid injection. On the first visit, 86.9% of the patients reported unbearable pain, versus 21.7% after one week, and a single patient after one month.

Conclusions: The evolution of episodic cluster headache is unpredictable and variable, though corticosteroid administration clearly reduces the attacks and their duration.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Evolution of pain following the corticosteroid infiltrations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Headache Classification Subcommittee of the International Headache Society. The International Classification of Headache Disorders: 2nd edition. Cephalalgia. 2004;24:9–160. - PubMed
    1. Balasubramaniam R, Klasser GD. Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Part 1: cluster headache. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007;104:345–58. - PubMed
    1. Felisati G, Arnone F, Lozza P, Leone M, Curone M, Bussone G. Sphenopalatine endoscopic ganglion block: a revision of a traditional technique for cluster headache. Laryngoscope. 2006;116:1447–50. - PubMed
    1. Yang Y, Oraee S. A novel approach to transnasal sphenopalatine ganglion injection. Pain Physician. 2006;9:131–4. - PubMed
    1. Goadsby PJ. Pathophysiology of cluster headache: a trigeminal autonomic cephalgia. Lancet Neurol. 2002;1:251–7. - PubMed

Substances