Innovative treatment offers relief to children with frequent migraine headaches
Migraines are a common medical condition among youth and adults, affecting 12 percent of people ages 12 and older. They can be especially debilitating in teenagers and often disrupt everyday activities, such as school, music and sports. The innovative treatment -- sphenopalatine ganglion (SPG) block -- does not involve needles touching the patient. Instead, a small flexible catheter is inserted into each nostril and local anesthetic is administered to the SPG, a nerve bundle thought to be associated with migraines, located at the back of the nose. Briefly disabling the SPG can disrupt and reset the headache circuit, breaking a cycle of severe migraines and reducing the need for medication. The minimally invasive SPG block takes almost immediate effect with relief potentially lasting for months, researchers said. SPG blocks are not a frontline treatment. A child only qualifies for the therapy if he/she has been diagnosed with a severe migraine that has not responded to first-line trea...