Termination of SUNCT with intravenous lignocaine followed by oral mexiletine

Background: The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are a group of debilitating, pathophysiologically similar headache syndromes characterized by facial pain and autonomic symptoms in areas supplied by the trigeminal nerve. Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival inject...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eoin Mulroy (Author), Oliver Armstrong-Scott (Author), Peter Bergin (Author)
Format: Book
Published: SAGE Publishing, 2018-04-01T00:00:00Z.
Subjects:
Online Access:Connect to this object online.
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: The trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are a group of debilitating, pathophysiologically similar headache syndromes characterized by facial pain and autonomic symptoms in areas supplied by the trigeminal nerve. Short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) is among the rarest of the TAC syndromes and can be particularly recalcitrant to treatment. Case: We describe the case of a 50-year old woman with difficult-to-control SUNCT whose pain was completely aborted within hours of commencing intravenous lignocaine therapy and was maintained pain-free after transitioning to oral mexiletine. Conclusion: This is the first report of successful transition from intravenous lignocaine to oral mexiletine in SUNCT, and we suggest that this treatment should be tried early in difficult-to-control SUNCT. This therapy is safe, effective and with minimal side effects if administered in an appropriate manner.
Item Description:2515-8163
10.1177/2515816318768827