Ali Al-Fraihat1* and Ayman Al-Fraihat2
1Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Department, Dubai Health Authority, UAE
2Head of Otolaryngology Department, Sulaiman Al-Habib Center, UAE
*Corresponding Author: Ali Al-Fraihat, Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Department, Dubai Health Authority, UAE.
Received: November 18, 2022; Published: January 13, 2023
Background: Headache is a common complaint otolaryngologists evaluate in practice, its a very stressful symptom that affects quality of life of patients. [1] The headache and facial pain that accompany infection like sinusitis are fairly well recognized. Rhinogenic Headache occurs in the absence of infection.[2] Rhinogenic headache is best approached by otolaryngologists as It’s treated by correcting the nasal pathology to resolve headache symptoms. [1-3] Our study reviewed the literature on Rhinogenic headache and evaluated the response of surgery on 27 patients diagnosed with Rhinogenic headache.
Methods: A total of twenty-seven patients attended otolaryngology outpatient department for their 6-months post-op follow-up. They were initially diagnosed with Rhinogenic headache based on fulfiling diagnostic criteria which included; The existence of mucosal contact point on CT scan/nasal endoscopy, and a positive xylocaineadrenaline test. All patients underwent endoscopic nasal surgery to correct the underlying nasal pathology. Pre- and post-operative pain score collected using (visual analog score [VAS]). Gathered data were analyzed using appropriate tools.
Results: Headache was reduced in all 27 patients after surgery. In the preoperative (initial consultation) period VAS mean was 7.85 ± 1.46. During the 6-month post-operative follow up headache intensity was recorded again with a VAS mean of 1.88 ± 1.05 (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Rhinogenic headaches are clinically characterized as causing facial pain secondary to mucosal contact point. Corrective surgery for mucosal contact points in the nasal cavity in carefully selected patients can significantly improve/relief the headache.
Keywords: Rhinogenic Headache; Contact point; Headache
Citation: Ali Al-Fraihat and Ayman Al-Fraihat. “Surgical Management in Patients with Rhinogenic (Contact Point) Headache".Acta Scientific Otolaryngology 5.2 (2023): 17-25.
Copyright: © 2022 Ali Al-Fraihat and Ayman Al-Fraihat. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.