WASHINGTON — There is some new hope for people who suffer from migraines. Researchers say they have come up with a new minimally-invasive, high tech treatment that may ease their pain.
It involves inserting an image-guided catheter the width of a piece of spaghetti through the nasal passages, and then administering a dose of lidocaine to a bunch of nerves behind the nose.
Those nerves have been linked to migraines. When the numbness from the lidocaine wears off, the brain’s ability to trigger migraines appears to be reduced.
Medical teams at Albany Medical Center and the State University New York Empire State College in Saratoga Springs tried the technique on 112 patients who suffered from migraines or cluster headaches.
They were asked to rate the severity of their headaches on a scale of one to ten before treatment. The day after the procedure, their scores were cut in half. Thirty days later, they were down 36 percent.
The researchers say this new image-guided treatment is not a cure, but at the very least it provides temporary relief, reduced need for medication and improved quality of life.
They presented their findings at the Society of Interventional Radiology‘s Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.
