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
Review
. 2019 Mar 15:12:1179550619834949.
doi: 10.1177/1179550619834949. eCollection 2019.

Entrapment Neuropathy: A Concept for Pathogenesis and Treatment of Headaches-A Narrative Review

J Alexander de Ru  1 , Boris Filipovic  2 , Jonathan Lans  3 , Erwin L van der Veen  1 , Peter Jfm Lohuis  4
Affiliations
Review

Entrapment Neuropathy: A Concept for Pathogenesis and Treatment of Headaches-A Narrative Review

J Alexander de Ru et al. Clin Med Insights Ear Nose Throat. .

Abstract

Entrapment neuropathy is a known cause of neurological disorders. In the head and neck area, this pathophysiological mechanism could be a trigger for headache. Over the last few decades, injection of botulinum toxin type A in the muscles that are causing the compression as well as surgical decompression have proved to be effective treatment methods worldwide for large numbers of patients with daily headaches. In particular the entrapment of the supraorbital nerves in the glabellar musculature and the occipital nerves in the neck musculature are triggers for headache disorders for which many patients are still seeking an effective treatment. This article reviews the literature and aims to bring the concept of neural entrapment to the attention of a wider audience. By doing so, we hope to give more exposure to an effective and relatively safe headache treatment.

Keywords: Headache; botulinum toxin; nerve block; neural entrapment; surgery; treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests:The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Carruthers A, Langtry JAA, Caruthers J, Robinson G. Improvement of tension-type headache when treating wrinkles with botulinum toxin A injections. Headache. 1999;39:662–665. - PubMed
    1. Binder WJ, Brin MF, Blitzer A, Schoenrock LD, Pogoda JM. Botulinum toxin type A (Botox) for treatment of migraine headaches: an open-label study. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2000;123:669–676. - PubMed
    1. Guyuron B, Varghai A, Michelow BJ, Thomas T, Davis J. Corrugator supercilii muscle resection and migraine headaches. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000;106:429–434. - PubMed
    1. Olesen J, Burstein R, Ashina M, Tfelt-Hansen P. Origin of pain in migraine: evidence for peripheral sensitisation. Lancet Neurol. 2009;8:679–690. - PubMed
    1. Behmand RA, Tucker T, Guyuron B. Single-site botulinum toxin type A injection for elimination of migraine trigger points. Headache. 2003;43:1085–1089. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources