Occipital nerve stimulation (ONS) is a form of neuromodulation therapy aimed at treating intractable headache and craniofacial pain. The therapy utilizes neurostimulating electrodes placed subcutaneously in the occipital region and connected to a permanently implanted programmable pulse generator identical to those used for dorsal column/spinal cord stimulation. The success of this therapy is dependent on careful patient selection, a preimplantation trial, meticulous implantation technique, programming strategies, and complication avoidance. (Mammis et al, 2015)
Occipital nerve stimulation may be effective for primary headache disorders. ( Young & Silberstein, 2012)
The most attractive features of ONS are its low invasiveness, adjustability of the settings, reversibility of action, and testability. The side effects and complications of ONS have also been analyzed previously—in patients with ON and the complication rate varied between 0% and 40% and included lead migrations, lead breakages, infections, wound dehiscence, hardware connection problems, and skin reactions. (Slavin et al, 2019)
Mammis A, Agarwal N, Mogilner AY. Occipital nerve stimulation. Adv Tech Stand Neurosurg. 2015;42:23-32. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-09066-5_2. PMID: 25411143.
Young WB, Silberstein SD. Occipital nerve stimulation for primary headaches. J Neurosurg Sci. 2012 Dec;56(4):307-12. PMID: 23111291.
Slavin KV, Isagulyan ED, Gomez C, Yin D. Occipital Nerve Stimulation. Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2019 Apr;30(2):211-217. doi: 10.1016/j.nec.2018.12.004. Epub 2019 Feb 18. PMID: 30898272.