Botox Injection in Treatment of Cluster Headache

Summary

Cluster headache is an intense and powerful, one-sided headache accompanied by involuntary symptoms such as red eye, droopy eyelids, flow of tears, small pupils and one-sided facial sweating. The headache is believed to be the most intense of all headaches and among many is totally disabling and of great personal and social consequences. For a small group of patients with episodic and most chronic form, drug therapy has little effect. For them, surgery can be a solution. Neuroradiology has found evidence of a possible original activation of cluster headache from the portion of the brain called hypothalamus. Furthermore, an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system through the sphenopalatine ganglion, which may also explain some of the one-sided involuntary symptoms, is suspected in cluster headache. Injection of Botulinum toxin type A (BTA) inhibits secretion of synaptic acetylcholine resulting in nerve signals being blocked. The duration of such a blockade is believed to be 3-9 months. The purpose of the present study is to develop and evaluate a new surgical procedure with injection of BTA for blocking of the sphenopalatine ganglion. The goal is to relieve the symptoms of refractory cluster headache with a minimal invasive procedure. The main objective of the project is to determine the safety of BTA injection in the area of the sphenopalatine ganglion of refractory cluster headache and detect the adverse events. Secondary objectives are to identify the changes of headache attacks by the method used.

Timeline

Start

2013-10

Primary completion

2014-02

Completion

2014-08

Publications

• Results Bratbak DF, Nordgard S, Stovner LJ, Linde M, Folvik M, Bugten V, Tronvik E. Pilot study of sphenopalatine injection of onabotulinumtoxinA for the treatment of intractable chronic cluster headache. Cephalalgia. 2016 May;36(6):503-9. doi: 10.1177/0333102415597891. Epub 2015 Jul 31.

Drugs

Indications