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Surgical treatment of migraine headaches

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Abstract

The senior author (BG) introduced the modern concept of migraine surgery in 2000. Since then, over 40 articles have been published by eight centers across the US, Europe, and Asia, describing positive outcomes after surgery in 68–95% of cases. Surgeons, neurologists, and patients are increasingly interested in this new treatment method. However, the majority of publications on this topic are found in surgical literature, with few articles presented in neurology journals. This review is an introduction to migraine surgery for neurologists from a surgeons view. It discusses the surgical treatment of migraine headaches based on the discoveries made and articles published by the senior author. It outlines the current history of migraine surgery, presents evidence supporting its effectiveness, and tries to dispel claims that what we are seeing is a placebo effect. It further describes detection of trigger sites and outlines surgical techniques of peripheral nerve decompression. We hope that this review will generate a positive discussion between surgeons and neurologists and lead to more interdisciplinary collaboration for the benefit of the patients in the future.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Combined Program for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Lisa Gfrerer

  2. Cleveland, Ohio From the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, 29,017 Cedar Road, Cleveland (Lyndhurst), OH, 44124, USA

    Bahman Guyuron

Authors
  1. Lisa Gfrerer
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  2. Bahman Guyuron
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Correspondence to Bahman Guyuron.

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Conflict of interest

Lisa Gfrerer has no financial disclosures. Bahman Guyuron is CEO of Innovative Medical Equipment and receives royalties for the books: Plastic Surgery Indications and Practice, Elsevier, Guyuron Rhinoplasty, Aesthetic Surgery Video Atlas.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. It is only a summary of these articles.

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Gfrerer, L., Guyuron, B. Surgical treatment of migraine headaches. Acta Neurol Belg 117, 27–32 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-016-0731-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-016-0731-1

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