Supraorbital electrical stimulation in management of chronic type tension headache: A randomized controlled study

ABSTRACT

Background and Purpose: Headache disorders are considered one of the ten most disabling conditions, for both males and females, according to the World Health Organization. Chronic type tension headache (CTTH) has a prevalence of 2–3% within the general population. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of stimulating noninvasively the trigeminal nerve in the supraorbital area (SOES) for treatment of CTTH. Methods: In an 8-week period of intervention, 45 patients were divided equally into three groups. Both group A “study” and group B received conventional physical therapy program three times a week. Group A received additional SOES for 20 minutes daily. Group C was on prescribed medications only. Assessments occurred pre and post intervention using Headache Impact Test (HIT), headache frequency, and visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain. Results: In between groups, comparison showed statistically significant differences between all groups (p < 0.000). Within-group comparisons showed that both groups A and B showed a significant improvement in all measured data. Improvement percent of group A was HIT = 18.4% and VAS = 63.0%, p ≤ 0.0001, and group B was HIT = 12.5% and VAS = 28.2%, p ≤ 0.0002, while group C showed no significant improvement with improvement percent HIIT = 1.2% and VAS = 8.6%, p ≤ 0.5. Patients in groups A and B reported less headache frequencies than group C. Conclusion: SOES had positive therapeutic results for treatment of CTTH.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronic type tension headache
• randomized controlled study
• Supraorbital electrical stimulation

Acknowledgments

My gratitude to Reem Babkir, Jamila Zebrmawi, Faten Ismaiel and Reem Al Abdali for their contribution in this research. Special thanks to assistant professor of English Literature Maher Mahdi for his careful English language revision

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.