First Case in Portugal: Hospital da Luz Arrábida Inserts Neurostimulator for Headache Treatment

First Case in Portugal: Hospital da Luz Arrábida Inserts Neurostimulator for Headache Treatment

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Hospital da Luz Arrábida successfully implanted, last March 26, a percutaneous peripheral neurostimulator for the treatment of a patient with intense headache after a road accident. The neurostimulator was inserted on the greater occipital nerve and the intervention, performed by Humberto Rebelo, anaesthesiologist in the Pain Treatment Unit of this hospital, was the first of its kind in Portugal.

The patient in question suffered from intense and incapacitating headache after a road accident, with sudden acceleration-deceleration of the neck, a mechanism commonly designated as 'rabbit punch'. In the absence of clinical improvement, even with conventional analgesic treatments and pain minimally invasive techniques, the insertion of a percutaneous peripheral neurostimulator was decided, in the attempt to reduce the complaints. After the intervention, the patient registered significant improvement, which allowed the gradual withdrawal of the systemic analgesic medication and the return to daily and professional life.

This kind of neurostimulator can be an alternative to improve pain complaints in mononeuropathies (neuropathies located in the territory of a peripheral nerve). The ultrasound-guided procedure now applied at Hospital da Luz Arrábida consists in the insertion of an electrode in the proximity of a peripheral nerve.

The intervention was made by Humberto Rebelo, with a master degree in Chronic Pain by the University of Seville, Spain, and working in the Pain Treatment Unit of Hospital da Luz Arrábida, in collaboration with Massimiliano Raggi, from the Pain Unit of Hospital Rovereto, in Trento, Italy.

For more information on this treatment or scheduling a Pain Consultation, use any of the channels available (app, site, reception desk or phone: 223 776 800).

Learn more about the Pain Treatment Unit and the techniques applied.