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Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2024; 51(06): 556-560
DOI: 10.1055/a-2364-5564
Pediatric/Craniomaxillofacial/Head & Neck
Case Report

Case Series and Literature Review of Up-to-date Surgical Management of Occipital Neuralgia

Seok Joon Lee 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Joo Seok Park 
2   AMUN Plastic Surgery Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
Woo Shik Jeong 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Funding None.
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Abstract

Nerve decompression is an emerging surgical treatment option for patients with occipital neuralgia. However, limited research is available on the efficacy of this treatment in South Korea. This retrospective study evaluates the efficacy of nerve decompression surgery in patients with chronic migraines, specifically focusing on occipital neuralgia, in South Korea. Between January 2019 and December 2022, six patients diagnosed with occipital neuralgia, who had not responded to conservative treatments, underwent nerve decompression surgery. This procedure, performed under local anesthesia, involved decompression of the greater and/or lesser occipital nerves. Patient data were analyzed for headache frequency and intensity (using the Numeric Rating Scale [NRS]) and the decrease in oral medications needed postsurgery. Results showed significant improvement in headache symptoms postsurgery, with the average preoperative NRS score of 7.9 dropping to 3.7 postoperatively. Additionally, the average number of medications used decreased from 3.2 to 1.3. No significant surgical complications were reported. The study highlights the potential of nerve decompression as an effective treatment for occipital neuralgia, particularly in cases resistant to traditional medical management.

Keywords

migraine surgery - nerve decompression - occipital neuralgia

Authors' Contributions

Conceptualization: W.S.J.

Writing original draft: S.J.L.

Data collection: J.S.P.

Writing final draft: S.J.L. and J.S.P.

Final editing and reviewing: W.S.J.


Ethical Approval

This study was approved by the institutional review board of the Asan Medical Center (#2023-0640) and performed in accordance with the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.


Patient Consent

The requirement for informed consent was waived because of the retrospective nature of the study, and the analysis used anonymous clinical data. However, informed consent was obtained from two patients specifically for the use of their clinical photographs in this study.




Publication History

Received: 04 August 2023

Accepted: 24 June 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
11 July 2024

Article published online:
09 September 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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