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Greater Occipital Nerve Injection Study

Phase 1
Completed
Conditions
Occipital Neuralgia
Cervicogenic Headache
Interventions
Procedure: GON injection at C2 location
Registration Number
NCT01988363
Lead Sponsor
Mayo Clinic
Brief Summary

This study is designed to answer the question of whether injection of the greater occipital nerve at its proximal origin, near the C2 vertebrae, using ultrasound guidance is effective in improving pain in human subjects.

HYPOTHESES

1. Ultrasound (US) guided greater occipital nerve (GON) injections are effective at a novel, proximal C2 location in live, human subjects, measured by improvement in visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores pre-injection compared to VAS scores 30 minutes post-injection, 2-weeks post-injection, and 1-month post-injection .

2. Ultrasound (US) guided injection of the greater occipital nerve (GON) at a novel, C2 location is effective at improvement of both occipital neuralgia and cervicogenic headache demonstrated by improvement in visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores pre-injection compared to VAS scores 30 minutes post-injection, 2-weeks post-injection, and 1-month post-injection. We further hypothesize that the mean improvement in VAS scores at 1-month post injection will be greater than 2 units.

3. Ultrasound (US) guided injection of the greater occipital nerve (GON) at novel, proximal C2 location in live, human subjects appears safe.

Detailed Description

Patients must be referred to Pain Clinic for occipital nerve injection.

Patients are responsible for all clinical costs associated with the injection.

There is no remuneration offered for participation in this study.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
15
Inclusion Criteria

Subjects must be referred to the Pain Clinic for an occipital nerve injection.

  • Must have Occipital Neuralgia and/or Cervicogenic Headache
Exclusion Criteria
  • Bilateral GON symptoms and/or cervicogenic headache symptoms
  • History of cervical spine surgery/procedure or trauma in past 6 months that may have caused or contributed to the occipital pain or cervicogenic headache, excluding Occipital Nerve Blocks (ONB).
  • Evidence of impaired sensation in the GON dermatome region
  • Evidence of cranial defect/abnormality near target injection site
  • Untreated cutaneous infection, systemic illness, or immunocompromised state
  • History of bleeding tendency or use of anticoagulants
  • History of adverse reaction to anesthetic agents or corticosteroids
  • Occipital nerve block in past 3 months

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
GON injection at C2 locationGON injection at C2 locationA 25 gauge, 2 inch spinal needle will be inserted into the symptomatic side after locating the GON via US at the level of C2. Subjects will receive an injection of 4 ml of injectate consisting of 1 ml of 2% Lidocaine, 3 mg betamethasone and 2.5 ml of 0.25% Bupivicaine to the greater occipital nerve at the novel, proximal C2 location.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Successful anesthesia of the GON30 minutes post-injection

Demonstration of successful anesthesia post-injection in the dermatomal distribution of the greater occipital nerve following ultrasound guided injections at a novel, proximal C2 location in live, human subjects.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Pain Scores30 minutes, 2 weeks, 1 month post-injection

Obtain preliminary evidence of the efficacy of ultrasound guided greater occipital nerve injections at a novel, proximal C2 location in live, human subjects as measured by visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores pre-injection compared to VAS scores 30 minutes post-injection, 2 weeks post-injection and 1 month post-injection.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

🇺🇸

Rochester, Minnesota, United States

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