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Current Pain and Headache Reports
Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports 12/2017

01-12-2017 | Childhood and Adolescent Headache (S Evers, Section Editor)

Nerve Blocks in Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Disorders

Author: Alexander Sasha Dubrovsky

Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports | Issue 12/2017

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Peripheral nerve blocks of the scalp, mainly greater occipital nerve blocks, have received a renewed interest amongst pediatric providers as they offer an alternate option to provide both acute and chronic relief from the suffering of children with difficult to treat headaches. This narrative review will provide an in-depth discussion of the published pediatric-specific studies exploring the utility of nerve blocks for pediatric headache disorders.

Recent Findings

A total of seven pediatric publications have been reported to date and reveal excellent therapeutic effectiveness of bilateral greater occipital nerve blocks on primary chronic headaches and post-traumatic headaches. Lidocaine is the preferred anesthetic choice and the value-added of concomitant steroids remains to be elucidated. It is important to ensure complete paresthesia of the blocked nerves to maximize effectiveness.

Summary

The available studies suggest that peripheral nerve blocks of the scalp are an excellent tool that frontline clinicians can add to their armamentarium in treating pediatric headaches.
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Metadata
Title
Nerve Blocks in Pediatric and Adolescent Headache Disorders
Author
Alexander Sasha Dubrovsky
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Current Pain and Headache Reports / Issue 12/2017
Print ISSN: 1531-3433
Electronic ISSN: 1534-3081
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-017-0650-8

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