Introduction:

Among secondary headaches, one is attributed to cerebral phlebothrombosis produced by septic thrombosis of the cavernous sinus. The sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) is involved in the genesis and maintenance of unilateral headaches, since it sends connections to the nasopharyngeal cavity and meninges, playing thus an important role in neuronal modulation; therefore; the blockade of this ganglion is an easy, safe, economic and effective method for treating breakthrough pain in some types of headache.

Objective:

To present the results of SPG blockade in the treatment of refractory severe headache produced by septic thrombosis of the cavernous sinus.

Case presentation:

A 71-year-old male patient is presented, who was successfully performed a transnasal SPG blockade, as a treatment for refractory severe headache caused by septic thrombosis of the cavernous sinus. Effective analgesia is achieved, together with progressive decrease of headache until it was totally controlled at 72 hours.

Conclusions:

Blockade was an option in the therapy of this type of headache.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )