Posted by CCF NEURO MD on June 30, 1997 at 11:28:45:

In Reply to: ??? about surgery for cluster headaches posted by Tricia Overstreet on June 11, 1997 at 23:32:34:

: My husband has suffered with cluster headaches for 2 years now. He has seen many doctors. (neurologist
ent, allergerist, chiropractor, and several more) He is currently seeing
a pain management doctor. This doctor has been able to help more then any
of the other doctors. He took him off most of the med that wasn't working.
And my husband has been on A LOT of different meds in the past two years. Anyway,
the doctor was giving my husband shots of novocaine in his gangelion nerve in his neck.
These shots helped at first. My husband was actually headache free for the first 6 weeks or so. But the shots have stopped
losing their effect and the doctor is now wanting to give my husband radiofrequency lesions in the stellate gangelion in his
neck. He has been honest and told us that this may not work but he has had success with it before. I am seeking information about
what the procedure will affect(what nerve). I also would like to know if you have any numbers about the success rate of this procedure.
I understand it is not common and I am having trouble finding info about it (even on the net). If you have any info or can tell me where to
find any, please let me know. I also want to know the side effects. Thanks in advance for your time and the service you provide the public.

Thanks again.

To be honest I have little experience with this procedure. There are a number of procedures that can be performed with varing success. The surgeons would have more exact data on success rate. On the Medline (now available to all people free by www.nlm.nih.gov) there was an article by the Cleveland Clinic on Trigeminal Cisternal injection of glycerol for treatment of chronic intractable cluster headaches by Hassenbusch, Kunkle, Kosmorsky, Covington and Pillay. They used a retrogasserion injection of glycerol with some success without the complications of corneal anesthesia with subsequent injury to the cornea. This affects the trigeminal nerve inorder to try to reduce the number of headaches. For more information you may use the medline or Call the Cleveland Clinic's Headache Center (Dr. Kunkle is one of the physicians ). Call 1-800-223-3373 ext 45665. They may also be able to give you more information. There is also the American council for Headache Education 875 Kings Highway- Suite 200, Woodbury, NJ 08096-3172, phone 1-609-845-0322 website: http://www.achenet.org which may be able to give you recomendations in your area for at least a second opinion on this procedure as I do not have experience with this enough to recommend going ahead with this procedure. I hope this will be helpful. This information is provided for general medical education purposes only. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options of your specific medical condition.