Washington:
Researchers believe that they may have found something to help people who suffer from excruciating migraines.
An innovative interventional radiology treatment has been found to offer chronic migraine sufferers sustained relief of their headaches.
Clinicians at Albany Medical Center and the State University New York Empire State College in Saratoga Springs used a treatment called image-guided, intranasal sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) blocks to give patients enough ongoing relief that they required less medication to relieve migraine pain.
Before treatment, patients reported an average VAS score of 8.25, with scores greater than 4 at least 15 days per month. The day after the SPG block patients’ VAS scores were cut in half, to an average of 4.10. Thirty days after the procedure, patients reported an average score of 5.25, a 36 percent decrease from pretreatment.
Additionally, 88 percent of patients indicated that they required less or no migraine medication for ongoing relief.
While patients reported relief from their migraines, Mandato added that SPG blocks are not a cure for migraines; they are a temporary solution as are other current treatment options for chronic headaches. Because of the minimally invasive nature of the treatment and the medication’s safety profile, Kenneth Mandato, M.D., believes patients can have the SPG block repeated, if needed.
