• Enrique Martínez-Pías, Javier Trigo-López, David García-Azorín, Aisling McGreal, and Ángel Luis Guerrero Peral.
• Headache Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain.
• Pain Med. 2021 Feb 23; 22 (2): 396-401.

ObjectiveCranial pain is a condition that has a negative impact on human lives, and occipital neuralgia is among its causes. This study aims to evaluate the clinical characteristics and therapeutic results of a series of patients with occipital neuralgia.DesignProspective registry (observational study).SettingsHeadache outpatient clinic in a tertiary hospital.SubjectsSixty-eight cases.MethodsDemographic and nosological characteristics have been analyzed, as well as treatment response of occipital neuralgia. All patients were recruited between January 2008 and January 2018, and the diagnosis of occipital neuralgia was made according to the International Headache Society (International Classification of Headache Disorders) criteria being utilized at the time of diagnosis.ResultsSixty-eight patients were diagnosed with occipital neuralgia, which corresponded to 1.2% of the total number of patients (5,515) who visited our Headache Unit during the aforementioned period. Fifty-four (79.4%) of them were female. Baseline pain was present in 62 (91.1%) patients, and exacerbations in 42 (61.8%). Latency from onset (range) was 27.7 ± 56.1 (1-360) months.ConclusionsOccipital neuralgia is an uncommon disorder in the sample explored. The prolonged latency between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis suggests that there should be an increased awareness of this disorder.© 2019 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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