Efficacy and efficiency of sphenopalatine ganglion block for management of post-dural puncture headache in obstetric patients: a randomized clinical trial

Background
This clinical trial aimed to study the efficacy and efficiency of sphenopalatine ganglion block (SPGB) for the management of post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) in obstetric patients. A prospective randomized clinical trial was carried out on 40 patients with PDPH divided randomly into two equal groups. Paracetamol group (PG): The patients received 1 g of paracetamol three times per day intravenously for 1 day. If adequate pain relief was not achieved, rescue analgesia in the form of intravenous ketorolac was given. Block group (SPGBG): The patients received bilateral SPGB using 3 ml mixture of lignocaine with dexamethasone in each nostril. The pain score, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure were recorded. The onset of analgesia, duration of analgesia, adverse effects, total dose of ketorolac, patient satisfaction, and hospital stay for epidural blood patch (EBP) or hospital discharge after 24 h were also documented.
Results
The pain perception (numeric rating scale [NRS]) in the block group was generally lower throughout the study showing only highly significant difference till the first 2 h after the block with more rapid onset and longer duration of analgesia. The total dose of rescue analgesic in mg was significantly lower in the block group and hospital stay for EBP was significantly less in the block group with higher patient satisfaction.
Conclusions
PDPH can be treated effectively and rapidly with transnasal SPGB, which is a noninvasive, safe, and easy method with a low complication rate.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04793490. Registered on March 11, 2021; ).