Stellate ganglion block causing reproducible improvement of allergic rhinitis and asthma: a case report
Abstract
Introduction: Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is hypothesized to influence immunologic and physiologic processes through autonomic modulation. Though similar effects of SGB on atopic disease have been intermittently observed over the past century, methodological concerns limit the internal and external validity of these prior efforts.
Objectives: To describe a case of simultaneous and reproducible improvement in allergic rhinitis and asthma after SGB, and to contextualize this observation within the existing literature.
Methods: A 35-year-old woman with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) following a radial head fracture underwent SGB as a part of routine CRPS management. Her incidentally-observed changes in allergic rhintis and asthma were assessed longitudinally using validated clinical outcome measures in a retrospective fashion.
Results: The patient demonstrated improvement of her allergic rhinitis and asthma after SGB, exceeding MCID thresholds for meaningful clinical improvement of each condition. These benefits persisted for 9 months before a partial recurrence of her atopic airway disease. A second SGB was able to reproduce these improvements, again exceeding MCID thresholds for both allergic rhinitis and asthma.
Conclusions: SGB's effects on atopic disease warrant reappraisal of SGB as a potential adjunct for atopic airway disease, particularly in light of recent experimental evidence suggesting that SGB may exert an immunomodulatory effect. This case therefore…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Cross-Sectional Study Among Medical Students on Application, Education, and Ethical Aspects
- Information quality of videos related to esophageal cancer on tiktok, kwai, and bilibili: a cross-sectional study
- The quality and reliability of short videos about hypertension on TikTok: a cross-sectional study
- Quality and reliability evaluation of pancreatic cancer-related video content on social short video platforms: a cross-sectional study
- Quality and reliability of pediatric pneumonia related short videos on mainstream platforms: cross-sectional study
- Association between metabolic score for insulin resistance (METS-IR) and hypertension: a cross-sectional study based on NHANES 2007–2018
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.