Abstract :
[en] Chronic primary headaches are widespread disorders which cause significant quality of life and
socioprofessional impairment. Available pharmacological treatments have often a limited efficacy and/or can generate unbearable side effects. Electrical nerve stimulation is a well known non-destructive method of pain modulation which has been recently applied to headache management. In this review, we summarise recent advances in invasive and non-invasive neurostimulation techniques targeting pericranial structures for the treatment of chronic primary
headaches, chiefly migraine and cluster headache: occipital nerve, supraorbital nerve, vagus nerve, and sphenopalatineganglion stimulations. Invasive neurostimulation therapies
have offered a new hope to drug-refractory headache sufferers but are not riskless and should be proposed only to chronic patients who failed to respond to most existing preventives. Non-invasive neurostimulation devices are user-friendly, safe and well tolerated and are thus taking
an increasing place in the multidisciplinary therapeutical armamentarium of primary headaches.
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