The innovative technique targets the 'trigger points' in the forehead or temple where migraine headaches begin. Surgical manipulation of one of these 'trigger points' which compresses, irritates or entraps the nerves could provide great relief to the migraine sufferers.
Dr. Bahman Guyuron, MD, Chairman of Plastic Surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, U.S., was motivated to use the surgical procedure following a revealation that migraine sufferers were releived of migraine symptoms after undergoing unrelated cosmetic brow lifts.
Outcome of the surgical procedure
The researchers analysed 79 migraine sufferers who had undergone surgical procedures. The patients were then monitored for nearly five years following the surgical procedure.
Ten of the patients were removed from the study because they needed additional surgeries for migraine treatment.
Of the remaining 69 patients, 61 patients (88 percent) exhibited positive response after the surgery. 20 (29 percent) reported a complete recovery, 41 patients (60 percent) showed slight improvements while eight patients (11percent) showed less than 50 percent improvement or no change in the symptoms of migraine.
"Migraine headaches are extremely disabling and this surgical option offers hope for migraine sufferers," says Dr. Guyuron. "Combined with the previous studies, this new five-year data has provided strong evidence that severe migraine headaches and their painful symptoms can be successfully treated with surgery with lasting results.”
Surgery involves removal of muscles from trigger sites
It is a simple procedure that provides relief and greatly improves the quality of life of many migraine sufferers.
The process employed by Guyuron is the removal of the corrugator supercilii-- a small, narrow, pyramidal muscle, placed at the medial end of the eyebrow--in patients suffering frontal migraines. For those afflicted with temple migraine he removed a small branch of the trigeminal nerve, responsible for sensation on face.
For headaches located behind the eyes and triggered by weather changes, the doctor works on the nose region and surrounding structures.
Guyuron said he had performed more than 1,000 procedures on more than 450 patients in the last ten years.
He stated, “Each trigger site takes about 45 minutes or so. Patients go home right away after surgery and are back to work in about a week.”
The research was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in Seattle.
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