{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T13:08:06Z","timestamp":1789736886587,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Scientific Scholar","content-domain":{"domain":["surgicalneurologyint.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"\n Background:<\/jats:title>\n Occipital neuralgia (ON) is unilateral or bilateral paroxysmal shooting\/stabbing pain in the occipital part of the scalp. It may be accompanied by dysesthesia and tenderness over the involved nerve(s). Possible pain generators include the greater occipital nerve (GON) (90%), lesser occipital nerve, and third occipital nerve (10%). Management includes non-surgical and various surgical approaches.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Case Description:<\/jats:title>\n A 28-year-old female presented with severe right-sided ON that failed conservative management. The unilateral pain was paroxysmal in the sensory distribution of the right GON. The cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging was unremarkable. Initial treatment consisted of 6-months of pharmacological therapy without sustained benefit. Three therapeutic right-sided GON blocks resulted in consistent, but short-lived pain relief; this supported the diagnosis of a peripheral nerve-mediated pain mechanism. The patient opted for a microsurgical neurectomy of the right GON; it included division of the right C2 dorsal ramus (GON), preserving the ventral ramus and dorsal root ganglion. Postoperatively, the patient\u2019s pain resolved (i.e., with the anticipated sensory deficit in the affected nerve territory). At 1-year follow-up, the patient remained pain-free with partial sensory recovery, (i.e., likely due to compensatory innervation).<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n This video demonstrates how to perform a microsurgical occipital neurectomy that provided durable pain relief in this 28-year-old patient who suffered from intractable ON.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.25259\/sni_923_2026","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T12:47:07Z","timestamp":1789735627000},"page":"522","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.25259\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Microsurgical right-sided occipital neurectomy for intractable neuralgia"],"prefix":"10.25259","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Dorian","family":"Karuc","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital Zadar, Zadar, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Matichak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, United States"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mirza","family":"Pojski\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Marburg, Marburg, Hesse, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kenan I.","family":"Arnautovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Tennessee, United States"},{"name":"Semmes Murphey Clinic, Memphis, Tennessee, United States"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"10894","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.1159\/000113872","article-title":"Pain relief after cervical ganglionectomy (C2 and C3) for the treatment of medically intractable occipital neuralgia","volume":"86","author":"Acar","year":"2008","journal-title":"Stereotact Funct Neurosurg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20","DOI":"10.1007\/s11910-019-0937-8","article-title":"Occipital neuralgia and cervicogenic headache: Diagnosis and management","volume":"19","author":"Barmherzig","year":"2019","journal-title":"Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"85","DOI":"10.1007\/s00701-014-2255-x","article-title":"Long-term outcome and prognostic factors after C2 ganglion decompression in 68 consecutive patients with intractable occipital neuralgia","volume":"157","author":"Choi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Acta Neurochir (Wien)"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1227\/ons.0000000000001598","article-title":"Anatomic localization and compression points of occipital nerves: Therapeutic insights using K-means and cadaveric atlas","volume":"30","author":"De Oca Mora","year":"2026","journal-title":"Oper Neurosurg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-5","first-page":"7","article-title":"Management options in occipital neuralgia: A review","volume":"4","author":"Doddamani","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Peripher Nerve Surg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1453","DOI":"10.1097\/PRS.0b013e3181a0720e","article-title":"Indications and outcomes for surgical treatment of patients with chronic migraine headaches caused by occipital neuralgia","volume":"123","author":"Ducic","year":"2009","journal-title":"Plast Reconstr Surg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"581","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-323-54947-9.00106-1","article-title":"Occipital neuralgia","volume-title":"Essentials of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation","author":"Eapen","year":"2020","edition":"4th ed"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuchi.2016.04.004","article-title":"The treatment of occipital neuralgia: Review of 111 cases","volume":"62","author":"Finiels","year":"2016","journal-title":"Neurochirurgie"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-9","first-page":"1","article-title":"The International Classification of Headache Disorders","volume-title":"Cephalalgia","volume":"38","author":"Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS)","year":"2018","edition":"3rd edition"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"263","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jocn.2019.08.102","article-title":"Occipital neuralgia: A neurosurgical perspective","volume":"71","author":"Janjua","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Neurosci"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.3344\/kjp.2011.24.1.48","article-title":"A case of occipital neuralgia in the greater and lesser occipital nerves treated with neurectomy by using transcranial Doppler sonography: Technical aspects","volume":"24","author":"Jung","year":"2011","journal-title":"Korean J Pain"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.3171\/jns.1998.89.3.0359","article-title":"Microsurgical C-2 ganglionectomy for chronic intractable occipital pain","volume":"89","author":"Lozano","year":"1998","journal-title":"J Neurosurg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0037-1618598","article-title":"Neurectomy of C2 for the treatment of occipital neuralgia: Case report","volume":"39","author":"Magalh\u00e3es","year":"2020","journal-title":"Arq Bras Neurocir Braz Neurosurg"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"332","DOI":"10.1227\/NEU.0000000000000872","article-title":"Occipital nerve stimulation for the treatment of patients with medically refractory occipital neuralgia: Congress of neurological surgeons systematic review and evidence-based guideline","volume":"77","author":"Sweet","year":"2015","journal-title":"Neurosurgery"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1521","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1526-4610.2009.01493.x","article-title":"Occipital nerve blocks: When and what to inject?","volume":"49","author":"Tobin","year":"2009","journal-title":"Headache"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E14","DOI":"10.3171\/foc.2002.12.1.15","article-title":"Ganglionectomy of C-2 for the treatment of medically refractory occipital neuralgia","volume":"12","author":"Wang","year":"2002","journal-title":"Neurosurg Focus"},{"key":"10.25259\/SNI_923_2026\/ref-17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"E472","DOI":"10.1093\/ons\/opab228","article-title":"Percutaneous full-endoscopic C2 ganglionectomy for the treatment of intractable occipital neuralgia: Technical note","volume":"21","author":"Yu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Oper Neurosurg"}],"container-title":["Surgical Neurology International"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/microsurgical-right-sided-occipital-neurectomy-for-intractable-neuralgia\/","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/surgicalint-articles\/microsurgical-right-sided-occipital-neurectomy-for-intractable-neuralgia\/","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T12:47:10Z","timestamp":1789735630000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/surgicalneurologyint.com\/surgicalint-articles\/microsurgical-right-sided-occipital-neurectomy-for-intractable-neuralgia\/"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"references-count":17,"alternative-id":["10.25259\/SNI_923_2026"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.25259\/sni_923_2026","relation":{},"ISSN":["2152-7806","2229-5097"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2152-7806","type":"electronic"},{"value":"2229-5097","type":"print"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]]},"article-number":"522"}}