Cervicogenic headache Signs and Symptoms Headache
Conditions
Interventions
Radiofrequency neurotomy of the cervical facet joint, eventually followed by a radiofrequency lesion of a cervical dorsal root ganglion versus conservative therapy (local injections with anaesthetic a
Sponsors
University Hospital Maastricht, Pain Centre (The Netherlands)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: The study group was recruited from patients with cervicogenic headache (CH) according to the diagnostic criteria of Sjaastad. The other following inclusion criteria had to be fulfilled: 1. Age between 20 and 65 years; chronic cervicogenic headache of more than 2 years' duration 2. An initial visual analogue scale (VAS) score of more than 50 mm during a pain period 3. A significant pain during at least two days per week 4. At least one of the following symptoms on physical examination of the neck: paravertebral tenderness on palpation of the cervical spine and/or positive tender points at specific points indicating the involvement of segmental nerves and/or reduction of range of motion in the cervical spine
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Excluded from the study were patients who had previous surgical procedures of the cervical spine; who had coagulation disturbances; who were pregnant; who had multilevel severe degenerative changes; who were diagnosed with post-whiplash syndrome and in whom none of the symptoms on physical examination described above were present.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Mean visual analogue scores of pain at 8 weeks, 3-months, 6-months and 1 year | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Global perceived effect by patient at the above-mentioned timepoints. The number of headache days, the medicine use and the headache intensity during a week were also recorded. | — |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed