Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39801092›Full record

ReviewJournal of oral & facial pain and headache2024

Occipital nerve block for headaches: a narrative review.

William H Arata, Rajiv K Midha, Giustino Varrassi, Kelly Sala, Michael J Plessala, Jared Brodtmann, Kylie Dufrene, Zachary Palowsky, Patricia Griffin, Shahab Ahmadzadeh and 2 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of oral & facial pain and headache, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07535723 (Botulinum Toxin and/or Greater Occipital Nerve Block for Patients With Chronic Migraine), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07535723 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Botulinum Toxin and/or Greater Occipital Nerve Block for Patients With Chronic Migraine

TypeinterventionalSponsorBeni-Suef UniversityRan2026 to 2026Enrolled90ConditionsChronic Migraine Headache, OnabotulinumtoxinA, Greater Occipital Nerve Block, Combination TherapyArmsOnabotulinumtoxinA, Greater Occipital Nerve Block (GONB)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

William H ArataSchool of Medicine, St. George's University, St. George, Grenada.
Rajiv K MidhaSchool of Medicine, St. George's University, St. George, Grenada.
Giustino VarrassiPaolo Procacci Foundation, 00193 Roma, Italy.
Kelly SalaSchool of Medicine, Louisiana Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Michael J PlessalaSchool of Medicine, Louisiana Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Jared BrodtmannSchool of Medicine, Louisiana Health Sciences Center at New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
Kylie DufreneSchool of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.
Zachary PalowskyDepartment of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.
Patricia GriffinDepartment of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.
Shahab AhmadzadehDepartment of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.
Sahar ShekoohiDepartment of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.
Alan D KayeDepartments of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Neurosciences, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport, Shreveport, LA 71103, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The occipital nerve block involves the injection of a local anesthetic and possibly a corticosteroid near the occipital nerves at the base of the skull and aims at providing relief from chronic headaches by temporarily numbing or reducing inflammation around the occipital nerves. It has proven to be efficacious in treating chronic headaches, especially those that are refractory to medication; it is both diagnostic and therapeutic with symptom abatement from weeks to months. Occipital nerve blocks can be utilized alone or with standard-of-care therapy for various other headache conditions, such as cluster headaches, episodic headaches or chronic migraines. This review aims to provide an analysis of the world literature on the role of occipital nerve block (ONBs) in the treatment of headaches, including the procedure, efficacy and safety of ONB, and to elucidate the current understanding of ONBs. ONBs demonstrate diagnostic and therapeutic benefits with symptom abatement for weeks to months. Outcomes are generally well tolerated, with minimal side effects associated mainly with the injection process, including numbness, tingling and local discomfort. Greater occipital nerve blocks are an efficacious procedure to treat chronic headache symptoms, and future research should include additional longitudinal follow-up results and interactions of ONBs with other headache treatments.

Indexed as

HeadacheHeadache DisordersNerve BlockSpinal NervesAnesthetics, LocalHumansAnesthetics, LocalChronic headacheGreater occipital nerve blockLocal anestheticMigraineOccipital nerve blockOccipital neuralgia

Identifiers

PMID39801092
PMCPMC11810654

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.