Cervicogenic headache: long-term postoperative follow-up

The patient, a 50-year old female had been suffering from right-sided head- and neck pain since she was 31 years of age. It started in connection with an indirect neck trauma. Analgesics were of little or no avail and operative procedures, including liberation of the greater occipital nerve (GON) (n = 2) and decompression of the C2 ganglion/root, had only a transitory effect. At 42, a magnetic resonance scan of the cervical spine demonstrated a degenerated disk C5-C6, with encroachment on the foramina and the cord. At 42 years of age, a stabilization operation at C5-C6 (Robinson-Smith) alleviated her discomfort--only some motor complaints in the ipsilateral upper extremity remaining and only in the first 12-18 months.