Intractable or persistent hiccups require intensive or invasive treatments. The use of a phrenic nerve block or destructive treatment for intractable hiccups has been reported to be a useful and discrete method that might be valuable to patients with this distressing problem and for whom diverse management efforts have failed. We herein report a successful treatment using a removable and adjustable ligature for the phrenic nerve in a patient with recurrent and intractable hiccups, which was employed under the guidance of electromyography.
Young Jo Sa, Dae Heon Song, Jae Jun Kim, Young Du Kim, Chi Kyung Kim, and Seok Whan Moon.
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, Republic of Korea. sagoon@catholic.ac.kr.
Surg. Today. 2015 Nov 1; 45 (11): 1446-9.
AbstractIntractable or persistent hiccups require intensive or invasive treatments. The use of a phrenic nerve block or destructive treatment for intractable hiccups has been reported to be a useful and discrete method that might be valuable to patients with this distressing problem and for whom diverse management efforts have failed. We herein report a successful treatment using a removable and adjustable ligature for the phrenic nerve in a patient with recurrent and intractable hiccups, which was employed under the guidance of electromyography.