There is limited literature on therapies targeting the stellate ganglion for the treatment of tinnitus. Stellate ganglion interventions may modulate sympathetic tone, cerebral blood flow, and central sensory networks involved in auditory perception, providing a potential mechanism for tinnitus improvement....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable clinical change; two-case series is insufficient evidence to consider pulsed radiofrequency stellate ganglion block as a tinnitus treatment in clinical practice.
Stellate ganglion modulation is a novel mechanistic hypothesis for sympathetic nervous system involvement in tinnitus and, if supported by larger controlled studies, could open an entirely new interventional pathway.
- 01Only two cases reported — far below the threshold for clinical conclusions.
- 02Pulsed radiofrequency targets the stellate ganglion to reduce sympathetic nervous system activity thought to contribute to tinnitus.
- 03Published in Case Reports in Anesthesiology; intervention requires specialist anesthesia/pain expertise.
- 04Proposed mechanism is sympathetic tone modulation, which is not yet well-established in tinnitus pathophysiology.
- 05Needs controlled trials before any clinical recommendation is possible.
Pulsed radiofrequency of the stellate ganglion can modulate sympathetic tone to reduce tinnitus symptoms.
studyunsupportedStellate ganglion radiofrequency represents a novel treatment approach for tinnitus.
opinionunclear- PMID
- 42787500
- DOI
- 10.1155/cria/3203716.
- Journal
- Case Reports in Anesthesiology
- Publication type
- case_report
- Evidence level
- 4
- Sample size
- 2
- Population
- Two patients with chronic tinnitus
- Intervention
- Pulsed radiofrequency of the stellate ganglion
Primary outcomes
Tinnitus symptom change following stellate ganglion pulsed radiofrequency