Occipital neuralgia evoked by facial herpes zoster infection

Occipital neuralgia is a pain syndrome which may usually be induced by spasms of the cervical muscles or trauma to the greater or lesser occipital nerves. We report a patient with occipital neuralgia followed by facial herpes lesion. A 74-year-old male experienced sudden-onset severe headache in the occipital area. The pain was localized to the distribution of the right side of the greater occipital nerve, and palpation of the right greater occipital nerve reproduces the pain. He was diagnosed with occipital neuralgia according to ICHD-II criteria. A few days later, the occipital pain was followed by reddening of the skin and the appearance, of varying size, of vesicles on the right side of his face (the maxillary nerve and the mandibular nerve region). This was diagnosed as herpes zoster. This case represents a combination of facial herpes lesions and pain in the C2 and C3 regions. The pain syndromes can be confusing, and the classic herpes zoster infection should be considered even when no skin lesions are established.     

Occipital neuralgia as an isolated symptom of C2 myelitis

Occipital neuralgia has been attributed to lesions at a peripheral nerve or radicular level. On rare occasions, it has been associated with cervical cord lesions. We report a 55-year-old woman who presented with an isolated occipital neuralgia and was found on further investigation to have a restricted, isolated myelitis at C2 level. This represents the second reported case of occipital neuralgia due to C2 myelitis and should alert clinicians to considering cervical MRI in patients with occipital neuralgia.     

Botulinum Toxin Type‐A (BOTOX®) in the Treatment of Occipital Neuralgia: A Pilot Study

Objective.— To determine the efficacy of occipital nerve blocks using reconstituted botulinum toxin type‐A (BTX‐A) in providing significant and prolonged pain relief in chronic occipital neuralgia. Background.— Occipital neuralgia is a unilateral or bilateral radiating pain with paresthesias commonly manifesting as paroxysmal episodes and involving the occipital and parietal regions. Common causes of occipital neuralgia include irritation or injury to the divisions of the occipital nerve, myofascial spasm, and focal entrapment of the occipital nerve. Treatment options include medication therapy, occipital nerve blocks, and surgical techniques. BTX‐A, which has shown promise in relief of other headache types, may prove a viable therapeutic option for occipital neuralgia pain. Methods.— Botulinum toxin type‐A (reconstituted in 3 cc of saline) was injected into regions traversed by the greater and lesser occipital nerve in 6 subjects diagnosed with occipital neuralgia. Subjects were instructed to report their daily pain level (on a visual analog pain scale), their ability to perform daily activities (on several quality of life instruments) and their daily pain medication usage (based on a self‐reported log), 2 weeks prior to the injection therapy and 12 weeks following injection therapy. Data were analyzed for significant variation from baseline values. Results.— The dull/aching and pin/needles types of pain reported by the subjects did not show a statistically significant improvement during the trial period. The sharp/shooting type of pain, however, showed improvement during most of the trial period except weeks 3‐4 and 5‐6. The quality of life measures exhibited some improvement. The headache‐specific quality of life measure showed significant improvement by 6 weeks which continued through week 12. The general health‐ and depression‐related measures showed no statistical improvement. No significant reduction in pain medication usage was demonstrated. Conclusions.— Our results indicate that BTX‐A improved the sharp/shooting type of pain most commonly known to be associated with occipital neuralgia. Additionally, the quality of life measures assessing burden and long‐term impact of the headaches, further corroborated improvement seen in daily head pain.     

Postoperative headache following acoustic neuroma resection: occipital nerve injuries are associated with a treatable occipital neuralgia

Objective.— To demonstrate that occipital nerve injury is associated with chronic postoperative headache in patients who have undergone acoustic neuroma excision and to determine whether occipital nerve excision is an effective treatment for these headaches. Background.— Few previous reports have discussed the role of occipital nerve injury in the pathogenesis of the postoperative headache noted to commonly occur following the retrosigmoid approach to acoustic neuroma resection. No studies have supported a direct etiologic link between the two. The authors report on a series of acoustic neuroma patients with postoperative headache presenting as occipital neuralgia who were found to have occipital nerve injuries and were treated for chronic headache by excision of the injured nerves. Methods.— Records were reviewed to identify patients who had undergone surgical excision of the greater and lesser occipital nerves for refractory chronic postoperative headache following acoustic neuroma resection. Primary outcomes examined were change in migraine headache index, change in number of pain medications used, continued use of narcotics, patient satisfaction, and change in quality of life. Follow‐up was in clinic and via telephone interview. Results.— Seven patients underwent excision of the greater and lesser occipital nerves. All met diagnostic criteria for occipital neuralgia and failed conservative management. Six of 7 patients experienced pain reduction of greater than 80% on the migraine index. Average pain medication use decreased from 6 to 2 per patient; 3 of 5 patients achieved independence from narcotics. Six patients experienced 80% or greater improvement in quality of life at an average follow‐up of 32 months. There was one treatment failure. Occipital nerve neuroma or nerve entrapment was identified during surgery in all cases where treatment was successful but not in the treatment failure. Conclusion.— In contradistinction to previous reports, we have identified a subset of patients in whom the syndrome of postoperative headache appears directly related to the presence of occipital nerve injuries. In patients with postoperative headache meeting diagnostic criteria for occipital neuralgia, occipital nerve excision appears to provide relief of the headache syndrome and meaningful improvement in quality of life. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and to determine whether occipital nerve injury may present as headache types other than occipital neuralgia. These findings suggest that patients presenting with chronic postoperative headache should be screened for the presence of surgically treatable occipital nerve injuries.     

Occipital neuralgia treated by intradural dorsal nerve root sectioning

The term occipital neuralgia was first used in 1821 to describe a characteristic pain in the region innervated by the greater occipital nerve. Since that time numerous authors have failed to reach a consensus concerning the presentation, cause, and treatment of this entity. Review of these previous works reveals that the term occipital neuralgia encompasses a collection of signs and symptoms which develop secondary to a variety of different disease processes. We have treated nine patients suffering from severe occipital pain with associated C₂ hypesthesia, unilateral retro-orbital pain, and occipital or C₂ tubercle trigger points by intradurally sectioning the C₁ -C₄ dorsal rootlets (C₄ if shoulder pain existed). All patients had been treated previously with various modalities without success. This paper discusses the results obtained in these patients.     

Die epifasziale Elektrostimulation des N. occipitalis bei therapierefraktärer Okzipitalisneuralgie

BACKGROUND: The term "neuralgia of the occipital nerve" in clinical work includes different kinds of pain in the occipital region. Correctly, this diagnosis should be reserved for such pain syndromes which, corresponding to the definition of neuralgia, are due to damage of the cervical roots C1-C3 or of the major occipital nerve arising from those roots. We introduce an operative method to treat chronic therapy-resistant headaches in the area of the major and minor occipital nerve. The courses of three of the first patients operated in our hospital are described. METHODS: An electrode with four poles is positioned epifacially in the area of the affected nerve in local anaesthesia. In cooperation with the patient the correct position of the electrode and the right poling have to be found. Afterwards, the electrode is externalized after subcutaneous tunneling. For several weeks, the patients stimulate while being at home. If they report about a satisfactory reduction of pain, a subcutaneous receiver for use with an external stimulator is implanted. RESULTS: Most of the patients who received an electrode had a satisfying reduction of pain of 50-100% during the testing period so that the receiver was implanted. We had no success in two patients whose occipital nerves were destroyed by previous operations so that the system was explanted. CONCLUSIONS: The epifacial stimulation of the occipital nerve is an effective method to treat neuralgia of this nerve. Patients with destruction of the nerve have to be excluded, because in their cases the stimulation does not work.     

Vascular compression as a potential cause of occipital neuralgia: a case report

Vascular compression is a well-established cause of cranial nerve neuralgic syndromes. A unique case is presented that demonstrates that vascular compression may be a possible cause of occipital neuralgia. A 48-year-old woman with refractory left occipital neuralgia revealed on magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomographic imaging of the upper cervical spine an atypically low loop of the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA), clearly indenting the dorsal upper cervical roots. During surgery, the PICA loop was interdigitated with the C1 and C2 dorsal roots. Microvascular decompression alone has never been described for occipital neuralgia, despite the strong clinical correlation in this case. Therefore, both sectioning the dorsal roots of C2 and microvascular decompression of the PICA loop were performed. Postoperatively, the patient experienced complete cure of her neuralgia. Vascular compression as a cause of refractory occipital neuralgia should be considered when assessing surgical options.     

Convergence of occipital nerve and superior sagittal sinus input in the cervical spinal cord of the cat

Co-existence of facial and occipital pain may occur in occipital neuralgia, migraine and cluster headache; suggesting convergence of trigeminal and cervical afferents. Such convergence has been shown in humans and other animals, but the site and extent of this are uncertain. In anaesthetized adult cats, the superior sagittal sinus and occipital nerve were stimulated electrically, and extracellular recordings made in the dorsolateral area of the upper cervical cord using glass-coated tungsten electrodes. Of 49 units in 10 cats, 33 (67%) had input from the superior sagittal sinus and the occipital nerve. Thirteen (27%) had superior sagittal sinus input and 3 (6%) had occipital nerve input. Convergent receptive fields were identified mechanically in 7 units. These experiments in cats show convergent input from occipital nerve and superior sagittal sinus on dorsolateral area units in two-thirds of cases studied. This experimental site of trigeminocervical convergence may relate to referral of pain in occipital neuralgia and other headaches.     

Familial neuralgia of occipital and intermedius nerves in a Chinese family

Cranial nerve neuralgia usually occurs sporadically. Nonetheless, familial cases of trigeminal neuralgia are not uncommon with a reported incidence of 1–2%, suggestive of an autosomal dominant inheritance. In contrast, familial occipital neuralgia is rarely reported with only one report in the literature. We present a Chinese family with five cases of occipital and nervus intermedius neuralgia alone or in combination in three generations. All persons afflicted with occipital neuralgia have suffered from paroxysmal ‘electric wave’-like pain for years. In the first generation, the father (index patient) was affected, in the second generation all his three daughters (with two sons spared) and in the third generation a daughter’s male offspring is affected. This familial pattern suggests an X-linked dominant or an autosomal dominant inheritance mode.     

Occipital Neuromodulation: Ultrasound Guidance for Peripheral Nerve Stimulator Implantation

We report a case of chronic left‐sided occipital neuralgia in a 21‐year old female patient. The patient in question suffered from chronic greater occipital neuralgia for a duration of many years, which had been refractory to other conservative medical management strategies. Blockade of the greater occipital nerve with local anesthetic was consistently useful in attenuating the patient's pain, though the effects were always short lived. Consequently, a successful trial of greater occipital nerve stimulation was undertaken. Compared with spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation devices are often more difficult to precisely place given limited ability to visualize soft tissues with traditional fluoroscopic guidance. Additionally, there are anatomic subtleties relevant to the greater occipital nerve that potentially complicate stimulator lead placement, both from the standpoint of optimal neuromodulation efficacy and maximum safety. Ultrasound technology is a maturing imaging modality that allows soft tissue visualization and is consequently useful in addressing each of these aforementioned concerns. The specific use of high‐frequency ultrasound guidance for this procedure simplified the initial device placement and allowed proper visualization of soft tissue structures, which facilitates precise device deployment. Additionally, the ability to identify relevant vascular structures may further increase the safety of stimulator lead placement. The potential advantages of ultrasound‐augmented procedural techniques, specifically as they pertain to occipital stimulator lead placement, are discussed with particular emphasis on potentially decreasing intraoperative and postoperative complications while optimizing stimulation efficacy.     

神经阻滞加手法治疗枕神经痛112例

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Transient Facial Nerve Palsy After Occipital Nerve Block: A Case Report

Occipital nerve blocks are commonly performed to treat a variety of headache syndromes and are generally believed to be safe and well tolerated. We report the case of an otherwise healthy 24‐year‐old woman with left side‐locked occipital, parietal, and temporal pain who was diagnosed with probable occipital neuralgia. She developed complete left facial nerve palsy within minutes of blockade of the left greater and lesser occipital nerves with a solution of bupivicaine and triamcinolone. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain with gadolinium contrast showed no abnormalities, and symptoms had completely resolved 4‐5 hours later. Unintended spread of the anesthetic solution along tissue planes seems the most likely explanation for this adverse event. An aberrant course of the facial nerve or connections between the facial and occipital nerves also might have played a role, along with the patient's prone position and the use of a relatively large injection volume of a potent anesthetic. Clinicians should be aware that temporary facial nerve palsy is a possible complication of occipital nerve block.     

Uncommon areas of electrical stimulation for pain relief

Uncommon stimulation refers to the use of peripheral nerve and spinal cord stimulation for nontraditional applications. There has been much interest recently with subcutaneous suboccipital stimulation for occipital neuralgia, sacral stimulation for pelvic pain, trigeminal stimulation for trigeminal neuralgia, and spinal cord stimulation for angina and peripheral ischemia. The indications and techniques used for accomplishing each method are discussed.     

Greater Occipital Neuralgia: An Unusual Presenting Feature of Neurosyphilis

SYNOPSIS
The syndrome of greater occipital neuralgia (GON) is a cause of chronic unilateral or bilateral headaches. It occurs when the greater occipital nerve is compressed, irritated or inflamed. We describe a case of neurosyphilis in which GON was the presenting manifestation. We discuss this previously unreported early presenting feature of neurosyphilis and its implication.     

神经阻滞技术与周围神经痛

介绍三叉神经痛、舌咽神经痛、枕神经痛、颈椎性神经根痛、肋间神经痛、坐骨神经痛、股神经痛、股外侧皮神经痛、髂腹股沟及髂腹下神经痛等10种周围神经痛的病因和发病机制、临床症状、诊断以及治疗方法。神经阻滞(nerveblock,NB)技术治疗这些疾病是来源于麻醉学的一种独特的方法。当药物疗法或其他方法不见效时改用这种技术可获显著效果,于是详述眶上NB,眶下NB,上颌NB,下颌NB,颏NB,半月神经节乙醇、甘油、热凝NB,舌咽NB,枕NB,肋间NB,腰大肌肌沟阻滞,股NB,股外侧皮NB,髂腹股沟及髂腹下NB等18种NB技术的实施方法。     

Embolization of a Tentorial Dural Arterio-Venous Fistula Presenting as Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia

SYNOPSIS
A patient with a tentorial dural AV fistula causing atypical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) successfully treated by embolization is reported. The patient developed persisting throbbing facial pain in the distribution of the secondand third division of the right trigeminal nerve (V2,V3) after a history of typical neuralgia for one year, preceded by a two month spell of TN 6 years previously and accompanied by right-sided pulsatile tinnitus for 10 years. The patient's mother, brother and sister were also said to be affected by typical trigeminal neuralgia.
A right-sided dilated vein of Rosenthal due to a dural AV fistula fed by branches of the meningeal, occipital and meningo-hypophyseal trunk of the internal carotid artery was thought to cause trigeminal nerve compression. Complete resolution of symptoms after partial intra-arterial embolization of the main feeding arteries with N-butyroacrylate is described.     

Clinical-radiologic heterogeneity of occipital neuralgiform pain as multiple sclerosis relapse

Occipital neuralgia may be related to traumatic, compressive, or inflammatory injury to the occipital nerve or C2 radicular level and cervical spinal cord lesions. We report a series of 3 patients with definite relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) who experienced sudden occipital neuralgiform pain with or without diminished sensation in the cervical region and associated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evidence of a new active or new T2-weighted demyelinating C2 cervical lesion. We suggest that sudden paroxysmal occipital pain may signal relapse of MS and cervical MRI with gadolinium should be considered; these patients show good clinical response to high-dose intravenous corticosteroids.     

Adverse effect profile of Lidocaine injections for occipital nerve block in occipital neuralgia

To determine whether there are differences in the adverse effect profile between 1, 2 and 5% Lidocaine when used for occipital nerve blocks (ONB) in patients with occipital neuralgia. Occipital neuralgia is an uncommon cause of headaches. Little is known regarding the safety of Lidocaine injections for treatment in larger series of patients. Retrospective chart analysis of all ONB was performed at our headache clinic during a 6-year period on occipital neuralgia patients. 89 consecutive patients with occipital neuralgia underwent a total of 315 ONB. All the patients fulfilled the IHS criteria for Occipital Neuralgia. Demographic data were collected including age, gender, and ethnicity. The average age of this cohort was 53.25 years, and the majority of patients were females 69 (78%). Ethnicity of patients was diverse, with Caucasian 48(54%), Hispanics 31(35%), and others 10 (11%). 69 patients had 1%, 18 patients had 2% and 29 patient were given 5% Lidocaine. All Lidocaine injections were given with 20 mg Depo-medrol and the same injection technique and location were used for all the procedures. Eight patients (9%)had adverse effects to the Lidocaine and Depo-medrol injections, of which 5 received 5% and 3 received 1% Lidocaine. Majority of patients who had adverse effects were female 7(87%), and had received bilateral blocks (75%). ONB is a safe procedure with 1% Lidocaine; however, caution should be exerted with 5% in elderly patients, 70 or older, especially when administering bilateral injections.     

Botulinum Toxin Occipital Nerve Block for the Treatment of Severe Occipital Neuralgia: A Case Series

▪ Abstract:   Persistent occipital neuralgia can produce severe headaches that are difficult to control by conservative or surgical approaches. We retrospectively describe a series of six patients with severe occipital neuralgia who received conservative and interventional therapies, including oral antidepressants, membrane stabilizers, opioids, and traditional occipital nerve blocks without significant relief. This group then underwent occipital nerve blocks using the botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) BOTOX® Type A (Allergan, Inc., Irvine, CA, U.S.A.) 50 U for each block (100 U if bilateral). Significant decreases in pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores and improvement in Pain Disability Index (PDI) were observed at four weeks follow-up in five out of six patients following BoNT-A occipital nerve block. The mean VAS score changed from 8 ± 1.8 (median score of 8.5) to 2 ± 2.7 (median score of 1), while PDI improved from 51.5 ± 17.6 (median 56) to 19.5 ± 21 (median 17.5) and the duration of the pain relief increased to an average of 16.3 ± 3.2 weeks (median 16) from an average of 1.9 ± 0.5 weeks (median 2) compared to diagnostic 0.5% bupivacaine block. Following block resolution, the average pain scores and PDI returned to similar levels as before BoNT-A block. In conclusion, BoNT-A occipital nerve blocks provided a much longer duration of analgesia than diagnostic local anesthetics. The functional capacity improvement measured by PDI was profound enough in the majority of the patients to allow patients to resume their regular daily activities for a period of time. ▪     

Occipital Nerve Blocks: Effect of Symptomatic Medication

Objective.— To explore the effect of symptomatic medication overuse (SMO) and headache type on occipital nerve block (ONB) efficacy.
Methods.— We conducted a chart review of all of the ONBs performed in our clinic over a 2-year period.
Results.— Of 108 ONBs with follow-up data, ONB failed in 22% of injections overall. Of the other 78%, the mean decrease in head pain was 83%, and the benefit lasted a mean of 6.6 weeks. Failure rate without SMO was 16% overall, and with SMO was 44% overall ( P  < .000). In those who did respond, overall magnitude and duration of response did not differ between those with and those without SMO. Without SMO, ONB failure rate was 0% for postconcussive syndrome, 14% for occipital neuralgia, 11% for non-intractable migraine, and 39% for intractable migraine. With SMO, failure rate increased by 24% ( P  = .14) in occipital neuralgia, by 36% ( P  = .08) for all migraine, and by 52% ( P  = .04) for non-intractable migraine.
Conclusions.— SMO tripled the risk of ONB failure, possibly because medication overuse headache does not respond to ONB. SMO increased ONB failure rate more in migraineurs than in those with occipital neuralgia, possibly because migraineurs are particularly susceptible to medication overuse headache. This effect was much more pronounced in non-intractable migraineurs than in intractable migraineurs.