Stimulating Occipital Nerve Eases Cluster Headaches

As in the Belgian study, symptoms returned almost immediately when the device malfunctioned -- for example, when the battery ran out.

"For people living with and suffering from intractable headache, developments are afoot," said Dr. Peter Goadsby, senior author of the British study and a professor at the Institute of Neurology at National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery in London. "And for patients with intractable chronic cluster headache, a new era is beginning."

"Next, we need longer-term observation and further experience with the device, the development of better devices with longer battery lives and smaller technology," Goadsby said.

Schoenen agreed that more research into the treatments is needed, specifically research that "studies more patients and gets a more precise idea of the optimal stimulation parameters."

"We also need to perform studies to better understand how ONS works, she added. Currently, the mechanisms of action are poorly understood.

"The next step would be to undertake a larger study, probably in the range of 25 to 50 patients and, if possible, to follow them out longer," Selman added. "You would certainly think about going this route before subjecting somebody to surgery."

More information

Learn more about cluster headaches from the American Academy of Family Physicians.

SOURCES: Jean Schoenen, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, Liege University, Liege, Belgium; Peter J. Goadsby, M.D., professor, Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, London, England; Jay Selman, M.D., neurologist, Northern Westchester Hospital Center, Mount Kisco, N.Y., and clinical associate professor of neurology, Columbia University, New York City; March 8, 2007,The LancetandThe Lancet Neurology, online