Posted by Daniel (196.2.44.152) on April 25, 2001 at 02:44:39:
In Reply to: cluster headache surgery posted by ricardo brooks on April 24, 2001 at 09:47:07:
Hi Ricardo
Two types of surgery that I know of are surgery to the nerve and sugery to the arteries
I know practically nothing about surgery to the nerve suffice what those on the board that have experienced it have to say (see Bobs link below to very a good post)
Surgery to the arteries (temporal, occipital, internal maxillary for egsample) is minor and low risk with less side effects than a face lift. The attraction of this surgery is that it is easy to tell whether it will succeed or not before performing the operation.
By compressing the various arteries during an attack during which the patient is still at a level where they are able to communicate and comprehend effectively - the pain will either dissappear, or diminish significantly or it won't.
If it does you ligate (cut, tie off, turn into a dead end) the artery, if it doesn't, you don't.
It is this level of predictability that makes arterial surgery an attractive option to investigate
Best of luck
Daniel