Blocking the greater occipital nerve: utility in headache management.

Occipital nerve block has been part of headache medicine for more than half a century, with injection techniques and solutions varying greatly. Most studies have been case series and many show benefit for patients with migraine, cluster headache, and postconcussive headache. A double-blind, controlled trial of cluster headache has demonstrated that injectable steroids with local anesthetics benefit cluster headache patients. A double-blind, controlled trial of nerve blocks in occipital neuralgia, which may have actually been chronic migraine, was positive.