Sphenopalatine ganglion block for the treatment of acute headache: An old treatment revisited

Secondary outcomes included the need for rescue medications, verbal pain scores (0−10), adverse effects to the nasal lidocaine, and return visits within 48 h. Descriptive statistics (frequency tables, confidence intervals) were used to summarize the data. Five small randomized clinical trials have been performed in ED patients; three studies failed to demonstrate any benefit of SPG block [5-7] and two studies showed significant benefit of intranasal lidocaine block compared to placebo [8,9]. Gender (% female) 63 (75.0%) Mean age (± SD) 35.5 ± 12.3 years Age range 18–71 years Race & ethnicity Non-Hispanic white 48 (57.1%) Non-Hispanic black 18 (21.4%) Hispanic 16 (19.1%) Asian American 1 (1.2%) Unknown 1 (1.2%) Pregnant 5 (6.0%) Primary care physician 69 (82.1%) History of recurrent headaches 84 (100.0%) Previous ED visits for headache 65 (77.3%) Taking prescription HA meds 25 (29.7%) Unilateral pain 27 (32.1%) Duration of headache