Lidocaine occipital nerve blocks found to be effective in treating status migrainosus in children

Christina Szperka, MD, FAHS, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, shares the findings of a randomized, controlled trial testing the efficacy of lidocaine occipital nerve blocks to treat status migrainosus in children/adolescents. In total, 58 patients with acute, severe headache refractory to usual therapies were recruited. Lidocaine cream was first applied over the occipital nerve of patients, and then lidocaine or saline injections were given to those whose pain was not resolved by the cream.
Topical lidocaine cream had little impact on pain scores and all participants proceeded to injection. It was shown that lidocaine occipital nerve block resulted in a significantly greater decrease in pain scores compared to saline injections. Dr Szperka highlights potential further studies about the number of injections that should be given, and how to improve long-term pain reduction. This interview took place at the American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Meeting 2024 in San Diego, CA.
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