New nerve block could replace needle in the back for spinal headaches

NCT ID NCT07354464

Symptom relief Sponsor: University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study tests a nerve block (sphenopalatine ganglion block) against the standard blood patch for treating severe headaches that can happen after a spinal tap or epidural. The nerve block is less invasive and involves numbing the nose. The trial will enroll 80 adults and measure pain relief over a week.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: lidocaine (nerve block)
What this could lead to: If it works, this could offer a simpler, less invasive treatment for severe headaches after spinal procedures, reducing the need for the more invasive blood patch.
What could go wrong: This is a relatively small Phase 3 trial (80 people). The nerve block may not be as effective as the blood patch, or its pain relief may not last as long.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 3

Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.

Participants

About 80 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Feb 2026

Expected to finish

Feb 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with post-dural puncture headache meeting the criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) and persisting after 24 hours of conservative treatment, * Patients aged over 18 years, * Patients affiliated to a social security health insurance system, * Patients who have provided written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients under legal protection (guardianship or curatorship), deprived of liberty (prisoners), or under judicial safeguard, * Pregnant patients, * Patients with hypersensitivity to lidocaine, prilocaine, local anesthetics of the amide type, or to any of the excipients listed in the composition of the drugs used in the protocol, * Patients with acute porphyria, atrioventricular conduction disorders requiring permanent cardiac pacing not yet implemented, or epilepsy not controlled by treatment, * Patients receiving antiarrhythmic therapy associated with torsades de pointes (amiodarone, disopyramide, quinidine derivatives, sotalol, etc.), * Patients with atypical post-dural puncture headache suggestive of a post-dural puncture complication (altered consciousness, focal neurological deficit, seizures, visual disturbances, etc.), * Patients with chronic headaches requiring preventive treatment, * Patients with a history of spinal surgery precluding the performance of an epidural blood patch, * Patients with contraindications to epidural blood patch (local or systemic infection, platelet count \< 80 G/L, coagulation disorders, progressive neurological disease), * Patients with contraindications to sphenopalatine ganglion block (nasal polyposis, rhinopharyngitis, deviated nasal septum).

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

intracranial hypotension Post-Dural Puncture Headache

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

PDPH Post-dural puncture headache

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

The places running it

1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
The official record

ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

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A doctor treating you

A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

New nerve block could replace needle in the back for spinal headaches

What the study statuses mean