Occipital Headache Evaluation and Rates of Migraine Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment in Patients Receiving Greater Occipital Nerve Blocks in an Academic Pain Clinic

Objective Diagnosis of patients with occipital headache can be challenging, as both primary and secondary causes must be considered. Our study assessed how often migraine is screened for, diagnosed, and treated in patients receiving greater occipital nerve blocks (GONBs) in a pain clinic. Design Institutional review board-approved, retrospective observational study. Setting Academic multidisciplinary pain clinic. Subjects One hundred forty-three consecutive patients who received GONBs. Results About 75% of patients had been evaluated by neurologists and about 25% by non-neurologist pain specialists only, and 62.2% of patients had photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea assessed. Compared with patients who had been evaluated by non-neurologists, patients who had been evaluated by a neurologist were more likely to have photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea assessed (75.9% vs 20.0%, odds ratio [OR] 12.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.90 to 32.2); more likely to be diagnosed with migraine (48.1% vs 14.3%, OR 5.6, 95% CI 2.0 to 15); less likely to be diagnosed with occipital neuralgia (39.8% vs 65.7%, OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.8); and equally likely to be diagnosed with cervicogenic headache (21.3% vs 25.7%, OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.3 to 1.9). Among patients diagnosed with migraine, 82.5% received acute migraine treatment, 89.5% received preventive migraine treatment, and 52.6% were documented as receiving migraine lifestyle counseling. Conclusions Of the patients in this study who had occipital headache and received GONBs, 62.2% were assessed for migraine, and most received appropriate acute, preventive, and lifestyle treatments when diagnosed. Patients seen by neurologists were significantly more likely to be screened for and diagnosed with migraine than were those evaluated by non-neurologist pain medicine specialists only. All clinicians should remain vigilant for migraine in patients with occipital headache.

Automated summary

This study assessed the frequency of screening, diagnosis, and treatment of migraine in patients receiving greater occipital nerve blocks in a pain clinic. The results showed that patients evaluated by neurologists were more likely to undergo assessments for photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea, and were more likely to be diagnosed with migraine compared to those evaluated by non-neurologist pain specialists. Most patients diagnosed with migraine received appropriate acute, preventive, and lifestyle treatments. Clinicians should be vigilant for migraine in patients with occipital headache.