Occipital nerve decompression

Has anyone out there had occipital nerve decompression surgery?  If so, what was it like and did it work and who was the surgeon????thanks!!!

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Occipital neuralgias can be successfully treated with micro vascular nerve decompression. Occipital nerve block is a simple, and safe diagnostic and therapeutic tool that should also be considered before surgery. Other options include occipital nerve blockade with local anesthetic, and steroid, then botulinum toxin or permanent implantation of a percutaneous occipital nerve stimulator. Microvascular nerve decompression often involves diagnostic anesthetic blockade, followed by chemical or surgical ablation of the greater occipital nerve. Depending on your surgeon, atlanto-epistrophic ligament decompression of the C 2 dorsal root ganglion and nerve or  C 2 ganglionotomy may be performed. Discuss these options with your doctor. Before undergoing any surgery, benefits and risks are usually considered. Take care and do keep us posted.

[LORI657]

Thanks for the info. I have a bad neck (herniated and bulging discs 4 or 5 discs I think). Anyway, I had facet joint radiofrequency ablation back in May. I guess the doc must have hit the occipital nerve because since then i have had extreme pain where the occipital nerve runs from the base of my skull up and around the top of ear and ends at temple (all on the right side). I called doc several times right after the procedure, his response was that was normal just keep icing it then heat and ibuprofen. By the way, No pain meds were given to me after this procedure. Aftter about 2 weeks,  pain was getting a little better but still hurting. I called doc again....... Nurse said doc said I need a stronger med but couldn't get me in for a few weeks??!!!!!!!!! AND it was against there policy to call in RX to pharmacy.NURSE SAID NO RX CHANGES EVER.OVER PHONE. I kid you not. I said what am i supposed to do for pain, and was told by nurse to got to ER.  This Pain Management clinic is very poorly run, and you have to wait forever to get into appt. Which I never went to because I figured they would tell me to go see the PM dr.  I live in a fairly small town and don't have much of a choice for PM dr. I didn't go back!!! and never will I.    Anyway, I am ready to have the nerve just cut because i hate that nerve and dont give a crap if i have no feeling in the back of my head.  I made an appt in Houston with a neurologist which is a 11 hour drive from where I live.  After all do I actually need to feel the back of my head. I came across this decompression procedure and wondered if that would be better.  But then again I would rather just cut it and pray that it doesn't grow back. I am ready to have a permanent solution. I have no stenosis or paralysis so not ready for fusion. I decided not to have fusion until i can't move my arm. My question is this:  Does the occipital nerve run thru the facet joint at c2-3 level???? If so, most likely that is where the damage is to the occipital nerve root. So, when they do decompression do they do it around the root or at the back of the skull. Thanks in advance.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
The occipital nerve is the nerve arising from two nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord such as C2 and C3.  These nerve roots join together to become the occipital nerve when these nerves enter between the deep and superficial muscle layers of the neck. Possible zones of Greater occipital nerve (GON) irritation and entrapment include the point at which the nerve emerges from C2 or between the atlas and the axis.  Local anaesthetic nerve block of the GON has been shown to be the most efficient diagnostic and therapeutic tool in treating this disorder.

In C-2 microdecompression, instead of the conventional treatment of nerve-cutting, the C-2 nerve root along with the ganglion and postgangionic nerve are decompressed or released from compression by blood vessels via a small skin incision at the juncture between the posterior head and neck.  Discuss the protocol that your surgeon will be  using to clear any worries. Take care and do keep us posted.

[Drumlime]

My wife just had her Occipital Nerve Removed on Monday 02-22-10.  The Doctor said it would be 2 weeks to see what result we will get.
David.