Anesthetic Procedure Found Successful in Treatment of Combat-Related PTSD

Researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Base in Bethesda, Md., using a technique developed by Chicago-area physician Eugene Lipov, MD, have documented successful cases of treating combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder with a stellate ganglion block, according to a news release from Advance Pain Centers.

SGB is a 10-minute procedure during which local anesthesia is injected next to the stellate ganglion, a collection of nerves in the neck, according to the release. Dr. Lipov, founder and medical director of Advance Pain Center, pioneered this approach, used for pain management since 1925, for the treatment of PTSD.

The Walter Reed team, led by Lieutenant Colonel Sean W. Mulvaney, MD, duplicated this approach in two patients — a 36 year-old white male on active military duty and a 46 year-old Hispanic male retired from military service, according to the release. Both men had been receiving pharmacologic treatment for the PTSD and suffered adverse effects from their medications. The results of the studies are published in the May 2010 issue of Pain Practice.

The Walter Reed case reports concluded that "selective blockade of the right stellate ganglion at C6 level is a safe and minimally invasive procedure which may provide durable relief from PTSD symptoms, allowing the safe discontinuation of psychiatric medications," according to the release.

Dr. Lipov noted in the release that the use of SGB may be able to "turn back the tide and stop the surge of PTSD." The lack of a theoretical model has limited attempts to secure funding for randomized, controlled trials of the procedure.

Read the release on stellate ganglion block in the treatment of PTSD.