Headache during cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation

Laurent Pison*, Pim Peeters, Yuri Blaauw, Kevin Vernooy, Narendra Kumar, Suzanne Philippens, Harry J Crijns, Johan Vlaeyen, Jean Schoenen, Carl Timmermans

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

AIMS: Headache has been reported to occur during cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). No study has systematically analysed this phenomenon.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty consecutive patients with symptomatic AF underwent cryoballoon ablation without sedation. Headache was evaluated before, during, and after the first cryoapplication in every pulmonary vein (PV) using a visual representation of a head for location of the headache, a numerical rating scale (NRS) for measuring pain intensity and the short-form McGill pain questionnaire (MPQ) for qualitative analysis of pain. The order in which the PVs were ablated was randomized. Sixteen (80%) patients perceived mainly frontal headache during cryoablation. The overall NRS scores were significantly higher during (5.1 ± 1.7), compared with before (2.7 ± 1.4), and after (3.5 ± 2.2) a cryoapplication (P < 0.05). The NRS score was significantly higher during ablation of the first PV. The intensity of the perceived headache was not related to the temperature reached 150 s after initiation of a cryoapplication (P = 0.81). Of the MPQ, three sensory adjectives and one affective adjective averaged between scores 1 and 2, representing mild-to-moderate severity of pain.

CONCLUSION: The majority of patients treated by balloon cryoablation experienced headache during a cryoapplication. There was no correlation between the temperature reached during a cryoballoon freeze and the intensity of the headache. Cryoballoon ablation of the first PV was significantly more painful than the remaining PVs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)898-901
Number of pages4
JournalEP Europace
Volume17
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2015

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cryosurgery
  • Female
  • Headache
  • Humans
  • Intraoperative Complications
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pain Measurement
  • Postoperative Complications
  • Prospective Studies
  • Pulmonary Veins

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