Occipital Nerve Stimulation Shows Promise for Migraines

Medtronic reports promising data in a trial of occipital nerve stimulation for chronic migraines. The study, called Occipital Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Intractable Migraine (ONSTIM), which seems to have used the Synergy neurostimulation device, showed that 39% of the patients obtained at least a 50 percent decrease in headache days per month or at least a three-point decrease in overall pain intensity from baseline.
“Migraine affects more than 28 million people and for up to 14 percent of those people, their migraines become chronic and can severely affect quality of life,” said Dr. Joel R. Saper, M.D., founder and director of the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute, and principal investigator for the ONSTIM study. “The patients in this study had been unsuccessful in controlling their debilitating, frequent migraines. The positive impact ONS had on the migraines in these severely impaired study participants is promising and supports the need for ongoing study of this therapy.”
Although this study only enrolled 66 patients, this data points the way to a larger clinical trial to demonstrate safety and to marketability for this stimulator.
Press release: Newly Published Data Show Occipital Nerve Stimulation May Be a Promising New Therapy for Chronic Migraine
Abstract in Cephalalgia: Occipital nerve stimulation for the treatment of intractable chronic migraine headache: ONSTIM feasibility study
Flashback: Battling Migraines From the Inside and Out