Atlanto-Axial Joint Block: Case reports

Shin, Keun Man; Yun, Seon Hye

Abstract

Until several years ago we didn't think seriously about cervical problems as a cause of headaches, but since the publication of articles by Bogduk et al they have gotten more attention. Cervical headaches are associated with movement abnormalities of the structures of the neck such as cervical nerve roots, discs, joints and soft tissues. Considering this, we thought that the atlanto-axial joint could be one of the causes of these headaches. Headaches originating from this joint can be recognized by the fact that the pain worsens with rotation of the head in the horizontal plane. Pain can also be referred to the frontal, area or around the orbit. We did atlanto-axial joint blocks using a posterior approach on 10 patients who suffered from this type of headache. The results were promising with 9 out of 10 patients showing more than 50% improvement on the numeric rating scale. There were no serious complications observed. We concluded that the atlanto-axial joint block can be an effective procedure in treating this specific type of headache.