Greater Occipital Nerve Block for Migraine With Medication Overuse Headache (GONB_MOH)

May 11, 2026 updated by: Pannathat Soontrapa, Mahidol University
Migraine is among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Inappropriate use of acute medications in the setting of primary headache, particularly migraine can result in a debilitating condition known as medication overuse headache (MOH). Treatment of MOH is challenging and the primary therapeutic approach is reducing painkillers which helps decrease the number of headache days. As a part of the detoxification process to discontinue acute medications, bridging therapy is often needed to reduce withdrawal headache. Currently, there are data supporting the use of greater occipital nerve block as a preventive treatment in chronic migraine, but no placebo-controlled trial has evaluated the efficacy of greater occipital nerve block in MOH. Therefore, this research aims to demonstrate the efficacy of greater occipital nerve block in detoxification of migraine patients with MOH. Patients will be recruited from Headache Clinic at 3 centers in Thailand from February 2026 to January 2028. After recruitment, patients will be randomized into 2 groups at a 1:1 ratio using a block of four, namely group A and B. A 5-mL syringe of 2 mL of lidocaine 2% and 2 mL of methylprednisolone 40 mg/mL (80 mg) will be prepared for each patient in group while a 5-mL syringe of 4 mL normal saline will be prepared for each patient in group B. Monthly headache days, duration, severity, acute medication type and number of usage days and relative headache status according to a 5-point Likert scale will be investigated at the 2 weeks, 1st, 2nd and 3rd month, MIDAS at the end of 3rd month.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

130

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Thailand
    • Bangkok
      • Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand, 10700
        • Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Pannathat Soontrapa, M.D.
    • Changwat Songkhla
      • Hat Yai, Changwat Songkhla, Thailand, 90110
        • Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Prut Koonalintip, M.D.
    • Chiang Mai
      • Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 50200
        • Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Surat Tanprawate, M.D.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have a diagnosis of migraine with medication overuse headache according to ICHD-3 criteria confirmed by a neurologist
  • Female patients will be screened for pregnancy planning and married female patients must undergo a urine pregnancy test

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have other types of headache disorders other than migraine
  • Patients who have a previous history of allergy to corticosteroid or lidocaine
  • Patients who had previous skull surgery
  • Pregnant women
  • Patients with a history of uncontrolled depression, or psychosis
  • Patients who get or plan to get CGRP-targeted therapies or botulinum toxin injection
  • Patients with an increased risk of bleeding or underlying bleeding disorders

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Active treatment (GONB)
Participants receive Greater Occipital Nerve Block (GONB) with 2% Lidocaine + methylprednisolone 80 mg
Drug: Lidocaine 2% and Methylprednisolone 80 mg
A 4-mL injection containing 2 mL of lidocaine 2% and 2 mL of methylprednisolone 40 mg/mL (80 mg). The injection is administered at the medial third of the distance between the external occipital protuberance and the mastoid process.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo group
Participants receive occipital injection with Normal Saline (0.9% NaCl).
Other: Placebo
A 4-mL injection of 0.9% Normal Saline administered at the medial third of the distance between the external occipital protuberance and the mastoid process.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of patients with Medication Overuse Headache (MOH)
Time Frame: At the end of month 1 and month 3 after detoxification.
The percentage of participants diagnosed with Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) according to ICHD criteria.
At the end of month 1 and month 3 after detoxification.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of patients achieving 50% improvement in migraine
Time Frame: At the end of month 3.
The percentage of patients with at least a 50% reduction in monthly headache days compared to baseline (month -1).
At the end of month 3.
Change in monthly headache days
Time Frame: Baseline (month -1) and month 3.
The mean change in the number of headache days per month from baseline to month 3.
Baseline (month -1) and month 3.
Change in mean headache severity
Time Frame: Baseline (month -1) and month 3.
The change in mean headache severity scores measured by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain
Baseline (month -1) and month 3.
Change in Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) Score
Time Frame: Baseline (month -1) and month 3.
Evaluation of the change in disability caused by migraines using the MIDAS questionnaire. MIDAS score ranges from 0 to 270 with the higher score, the worse disability.
Baseline (month -1) and month 3.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Mahidol University

Collaborators

Prince of Songkla University
The Royal College of Physicians of Thailand
Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

May 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 11, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Si321/2026

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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