A Comparison of Dexamethasone and Triamcinolone for Ultrasound-guided Occipital C2 Nerve Blocks

Overview

Greater occipital nerve (GON) injection is a commonly performed diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in headache patients. GON blocks have been shown to be effective in the treatment of a variety of headaches including occipital neuralgia, migraine, vascular headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, and post-concussive headache. Local anesthetic and steroids have been successfully used for diagnostic and or therapeutic nerve pain such as lumbar radicultis with great success. Dexamethasone is a water soluble steroid, when combined with local anesthetic; it may increase the analgesia of block duration relative to its pharmacokinetics. When compared to dexamethasone, triamcinolone, a particulate steroid has a slower onset time but may provide anti-inflammatory effects up to several weeks. Investigators want to investigate to see if there exists a difference in reported pain intensity using the particulate anti-inflammatory corticosteroid (triamcinolone with bupivacaine) which may provide a greater reduction in reported pain intensity relief may allow the patient to undergo fewer interventional procedures.

Full Title of Study: “A Comparison of Dexamethasone and Triamcinolone in Combination With Bupivacaine for Ultrasound-guided Occipital C2 Nerve Blocks: A Randomized Controlled Trial”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Treatment
    • Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: June 2022

Detailed Description

Greater occipital nerve (GON) injection is a commonly performed diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in headache patients. GON blocks have been shown to be effective in the treatment of a variety of headaches including occipital neuralgia, migraine, vascular headache, cluster headache, cervicogenic headache, and post-concussive headache.The GON provides sensory innervation to the posterior scalp to the vertex of the skull and is known to communicate with the third occipital nerve and lesser occipital nerve during its ascent at the occiput.The use of ultrasound guidance to assist with needle placement is becoming increasingly popular due to real-time visualization of soft tissue and surrounding vasculature as well as the appearance of bony structures. This imaging tool allows for fine adjustment of the needle tip and direct observation of the injectate thereby confirming local anesthetic spread at the targeted area. Local anesthetic and steroids have been successfully used for diagnostic and or therapeutic nerve pain such as lumbar radicultis with great success. Dexamethasone is a water soluble steroid, when combined with local anesthetic; it may increase the analgesia of block duration relative to its pharmacokinetics. When compared to dexamethasone, triamcinolone, a particulate steroid has a slower onset time but may provide anti-inflammatory effects up to several weeks. Investigators want to investigate to see if there exists a difference in reported pain intensity using the particulate anti-inflammatory corticosteroid (triamcinolone with bupivacaine) which may provide a greater reduction in reported pain intensity relief may allow the patient to undergo fewer interventional procedures.

Interventions

  • Drug: Triamcinolone
    • 1 mL of 40 mg of Triamcinolone
  • Drug: Dexamethasone
    • 1 mL of 4mg of Dexamethasone
  • Drug: Normal Saline
    • 1 mL of preservative free normal saline
  • Drug: Bupivacaine
    • 2 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Active Comparator: Bupivacaine+Triamcinolone
    • An ultrasound-guided C2 nerve block with 2 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine plus 1 mL 40 mg of triamcinolone.
  • Active Comparator: Bupivacaine+Dexamethasone
    • An ultrasound-guided C2 nerve block with 2 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine plus 1 mL 4 mg of dexamethasone.
  • Placebo Comparator: Bupivacaine+Saline
    • An ultrasound-guided C2 nerve block with 2 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine plus 1 mL of preservative free normal saline.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • PROMIS (Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System) Pain Intensity Questionnaire
    • Time Frame: 2 weeks interval for up to 12 weeks
    • Area under the PROMIS Pain Intensity Questionnaire T-score versus time profile for the 12 week study period

Secondary Measures

  • Patients Global Impression of Change (PIGC) questionnaire
    • Time Frame: 2 week interval for for up to 12 weeks
    • The Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC) is a 7-point scale depicting a patient’s rating of overall improvement.
  • Headache Under-Response to Treatment (HURT) questionnaire
    • Time Frame: Baseline and 3 month
    • The HURT Questionnaire consists of eight questions which the patient answers as a measure of effectiveness of intervention against headache.

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

  • All patients, ≥ 18 years of age and under 75 years of age, presenting to the Northwestern Pain Center with occipital headaches who are scheduled to receive a ultrasound-guided occipital nerve block will be eligible for the study. – Extracranial tenderness or Tinel's sign over the occipital nerve – Poor response to other medical treatments (narcotics, physical therapy) – Paroxysmal stabbing pain, with or without persistent aching between paroxysms, in the distribution(s) of the greater, lesser and/or third occipital nerves – Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score of at least 4 at recent headache occurrence. Exclusion Criteria:

  • Abnormal cranial anatomy – use of anticoagulants – local infection – refusal of or lack of consent – pregnant patients – systemic steroid in the last three months, steroid injection of any type in the last three months – inability to read – untreated/inadequately treated psychiatric disorders – cannot comprehend or complete the questionnaires – known allergies to local or steroids

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Maximum Age: 75 Years

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Northwestern University
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Principal Investigator: Antoun Nader, Professor of Anesthesiology – Northwestern University
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Antoun Nader, MD, Principal Investigator, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

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