Long-Term Pain Relief in Patients with Cervicogenic Headaches after Pulsed Radiofrequency Application into the Lateral Atlantoaxial (C1-2) Joint Using an Anterolateral Approach

Pain Practice Volume 10 Issue 4, Pages 267 - 271
Willy Halim, MD, FIPP*; Nicholas H L Chua, MBBS, MMed, FIPP, FAMS † ; Kris C Vissers, MD, PhD, FIPP ‡
*St. Anna Zorggroep, Anesthesia and Pain Management, Geldrop, the Netherlands; † Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Anesthesia, Surgical Intensive Care and Pain Management, Singapore; ‡ UMC St. Radboud, Anesthesiology, Pain Therapy and Palliative Care, Nijmegen, the Netherlands


Correspondence to Nicholas H L Chua, MBBS, MMed, FIPP, FAMS, Department of Anesthesiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433. E-mail: nicholaschua143@gmail.com.


Copyright Journal compilation © 2010 World Institute of Pain

ABSTRACT

The lateral atlantoaxial joint has long been reported as a source of cervicogenic headache. We present a retrospective study, including 86 patients who had undergone lateral C1-2 joint pulsed radiofrequency application, for cervicogenic headache in a single pain center from March 2007 to December 2008. The percentage of patients who had ≥50% pain relief at 2 months, 6 months, and 1 year were 50% (43/86), 50% (43/86), and 44.2% (38/86), respectively. Long-term pain relief at 6 months and 1 year were predicted reliably by ≥50% pain relief at 2 months (P < 0.001). Apart from 1 patient that complained of increased severity of occipital headache lasting several hours, we had no other reported complications.
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Submitted: October 30, 2009; Revision Accepted: January 1, 2010
DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)
10.1111/j.1533-2500.2010.00360.x About DOI