Posted by JohnP on November 30, 1998 at 22:43:00:
In Reply to: Please look-www.msnbc.com/local/kxas/55953.asp posted by Loretta on November 30, 1998 at 15:15:14:
Here is a copy of what is on MSNBC
Click here for more local information
David Coker feels immediate relief after the surgery to implant occipital nerve stimulation.
New surgery gives relief to chronic headache sufferers
DALLAS - There is finally relief for some people who get crushing headaches. People who have headaches that feel like someone is banging their skulls are finding help from a new device.
You can see it in David Coker’s eyes, pain so intense it rates off the scale. He says, “The doctors always rate everything on a scale of one to ten and I tell them it’s about a twelve. To me it’s just like somebody’s just beating me in the back of the head constantly and there’s just constantly pressure in the back of my head.”
4 years ago, David Coker fell off a ladder at work and slammed the back of his head on concrete. He has had daily headaches since, so excruciating, that at times he feels life is over.
Drugs haven’t helped David. So he’ll get surgery at Methodist Medical Center in Dallas to implant a new device. Pain Management Services Director Dr. Scott Berlin says, “It’s the application of an old technology for patients with specific chronic type of headaches that are very often confused for migraine headaches.”
The surgery doesn’t take very long, about an hour and a half and the patient gets a local anesthetic so he’s awake enough to respond through part of it. Doctors at Methodist’s Pain Management Clinic will implant a device with electrodes near David’s damaged nerves.
The device is called occipital nerve stimulation because it stimulates damaged nerves at the back of the head called occipital nerves. Dr. Berlin says, “By continually stimulating the nerves themselves there is a confusion as to what is pain and what is just regular stimulation so it makes the central nervous system forget the perception of pain.”
David feels immediate relief. He says, “When they were stimulated I could feel the pressure start to release already.” Doctors will also implant a pacemaker under the arm so patients can control the stimulator and control pain. Dr. Berlin says, “The pacemaker is the small computer that allows the patient to control the device itself. It allows them to turn it up, turn it down, increase the intensity of the electrical stimulation or decrease the intensity of the stimulation. This is the first device that we have found that essentially gets pretty close to a cure.” Coker adds, “It means I have a life again. It means I get to go back to work again.”
David Coker says he feels fantastic since the surgery, almost pain-free. Methodist Medical Center is one of the few hospitals offering the surgery for people with damaged occipital nerves. The nerves are often damaged from head trauma or health problems such as diabetes.