Evaluation of Treatment Results and Quality of Life in Patients with Refractory Headache, Treated with Nerve Block

Introduction: Headache is one of the most common causes of emergency hospitalizations in world. Different therapies are used in both acute and prophylactic phase of headaches, but some patients do not have great response to pharmaceutical therapies. These patients can benefit from injection of peripheral nerve blocks depending on the headache type. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of nerve blocks in treatment of patients with refractory primary headaches. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on ۱۸۷ patients who refered to the emergency of Alavi hospital in Ardabil at year ۲۰۲۱ that hadnot response to the decrease in severity of headache up to ۵۰% based on MIDAS and also cured with nerve blocks. The necessary cheklist were completed for all patients and the severity, frequency and the interval of headaches were registered and compared in one day, one week and one month after the blocks  and collected data were analyzed by statistical test like independent and Paired t-tests and Anova in SPSS version ۲۱. Results: The mean severity of headache in patients significantly decreased during the study periods compared to before nerve blocker injection. The most common complications after nerve block in patients were anesthetized with ۵۳%, followed by injection site pain and swelling each with ۲۲.۵% and then tachycardia with ۱۹.۸%. Conclusion: Peripheral nerve block in patients with primary headache can reduce the severity of pain in one month after the block nerve injection and in acute phase it can improve symptoms in middle-term.