Efficacy of local lidocaine application on anxiety and depression and its curative effect on patients with chronic tension-type headache.

BACKGROUND: Tension-type headache (TTH) is a primary headache disorder. In this study, the efficacy of local lidocaine application on anxiety and depression and its curative effect in patients with chronic TTH was investigated. METHODS: Forty-eight patients (24 local lidocaine injection, 24 local saline injection group) with chronic TTH were enrolled in our study. Injections were applied to the trigger points of the muscles that are innervated by C1-C3 and the trigeminal nerve, exit points of the fifth cranial nerve, and around the superior cervical ganglion. Each patient underwent one session every 3 days. Patients were evaluated before and 3 months after the treatment. RESULTS: In both groups, the number of painful days in a month, visual analogue scale values, amount of analgesic use in a month, Hamilton depression score, and Hamilton anxiety score decreased after the treatment. As a result, all of the parameters were found to have improved in both groups (p < 0.05), the results were statistically significant, and the lidocaine group's response to the treatment was better than the placebo group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that local lidocaine administration can be an effective method in the treatment of chronic TTH.