Long‐Term Pain Relief in Patients with Cervicogenic Headaches after Pulsed Radiofrequency Application into the Lateral Atlantoaxial (C1‐2) Joint Using an Anterolateral Approach

The lateral atlantoaxial joint has long been reported as a source of cervicogenic headache. We present a retrospective study, including 86 patients who had undergone lateral C1-2 joint pulsed radiofrequency application, for cervicogenic headache in a single pain center from March 2007 to December 2008. The percentage of patients who had >or=50% pain relief at 2 months, 6 months, and 1 year were 50% (43/86), 50% (43/86), and 44.2% (38/86), respectively. Long-term pain relief at 6 months and 1 year were predicted reliably by >or=50% pain relief at 2 months (P < 0.001). Apart from 1 patient that complained of increased severity of occipital headache lasting several hours, we had no other reported complications.