Twice-weekly delivery of the local anaesthetic bupivacaine to the sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) for 6 weeks substantially reduces the number of headache days in patients with chronic migraine, according to a randomized controlled trial. In the last 28 days of the treatment period, patients assigned to bupivacaine experienced a mean of 19.27 headache days, compared with 24.17 days in patients who were assigned to a saline placebo. The benefits of SPG blockade were maintained at 1 month and 6 months after treatment.
References
Cady, R. K. et al. Long-term efficacy of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study for repetitive sphenopalatine blockade with bupivacaine vs saline with the Tx360® device for treatment of chronic migraine. Headache 10.1111/head.12546
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Repetitive sphenopalatine blockade with bupivacaine shows promise for treatment of chronic migraine. Nat Rev Neurol 11, 248 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2015.73
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2015.73
