Cephalalgia Reports · Published 2026-07-01 · DOI 10.1177/25158163261471133
Stephen P. Merry, Laura S. Greenlund, David N. Brennan, Tom D. Thacher, Remi Boudreau, Natalie M. Averkamp, Carrie E. Robertson
This protocol paper details a single-center, randomized trial to compare greater occipital nerve blocks (GONBs) to multiple peripheral nerve blocks (MPNBs) for acute headache relief and prophylaxis in episodic migraine. GONBs are effective for the treatment and prevention of migraine, but a combination of trigeminal and occipital nerve blocks can be effective when GONBs alone have failed. To test this hypothesis, 60 adult participants will be randomized to receive either bilateral GONB or MPNBs of the bilateral greater occipital, lesser occipital, auriculotemporal, supraorbital, and supratrochlear nerves during an acute migraine with 0.5–1.25 mL bupivacaine 0.5%. Methylprednisolone 10–20 mg will be added only for the occipital nerves. Anesthesia in the distribution of each nerve block will be tested, and reinjection with bupivacaine will be performed until anesthesia is achieved. The primary endpoint will be pain freedom 20 min after injections. Secondary endpoints include pain freedom at 2 and 24 h, headache relief at 2 h, frequency and severity of subsequent migraine, and absenteeism from work/school/life events due to headaches over a 12-week follow-up period compared to a four-week run-in period. Trial Registration: The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04278573).
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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Merry, S., Greenlund, L., Brennan, D., et al. (2026). A randomized trial of bilateral greater occipital nerve blocks versus 10 peripheral nerve blocks for acute relief and prophylaxis of episodic migraine: A study protocol. Cephalalgia Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/25158163261471133