Posted by bodhisattva_guy on February 6, 2011, at 3:34:55
In reply to Re: Stelleate ganglion block for PSTD and pain » bodhisattva_guy, posted by Phillipa on February 5, 2011, at 21:17:54
T the following search on google gives some idea:
" stellate ganglion block insurance PTSD"RADICAL PTSD TREATMENT GETTING MORE NOTICE -- Some veterans says ...
Apr 13, 2010 ... Right now, the procedure, called stellate ganglion block, or SGB, isn't approved by the government for use for PTSD, but Lipov has treated a ...http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfapr10/nf041310-2.htm
Another search finds this:
stellate ganglion block blue cross"
BXBS policy:
The following services, regardless of whether they are performed as an inpatient or outpatient, require preauthorization:
- Aspiration of a joint;
Pain management (including facet joint injections, triggerInjecting a local anesthetic next to a group of nerves in the neck, known as the stellate ganglion, is a fast-acting and effective way to treat combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), U.S. military researchers report.
The 10-minute procedure, called a stellate ganglion block, has been used to treat chronic pain and certain other health problems since 1925, according to background information in a news release about the research.
The team at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., tested the block procedure on two patients: a 36-year-old man whose PTSD symptoms began after the battle of Fallujah in Iraq and a 46-year-old male veteran whose PTSD symptoms began 18 years ago in the first Gulf War.
Both men had been receiving drug treatment for more than a year, but it had been ineffective in treating their PTSD symptoms, according to the Walter Reed report. In addition, both men suffered side effects from the drugs, including depression, sleepiness and erectile dysfunction.
"Unlike conventional treatments for PTSD, SGB appears to provide results almost immediately," Dr. Sean W. Mulvaney, the Army lieutenant colonel who led the Walter Reed research, said in the news release. "Both patients experienced immediate, significant and durable relief."
r. Lipov is the first to use a local anesthetic to treat PTSD. It's called stellate ganglion block (SGB). It's been used since the 1920s to ..
woundedtimes.blogspot.com/.../stellate-ganglion-block-offers-hope-for.htmlJab to the Neck Treats PTSD-- In-Depth Doctor's Interview ...
Jun 9, 2010 ... We did the block and it got better, and it led to the first publication in '08 about using stellate ganglion block for PTSD. ...http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=24608
[PDF]
MEDICAL PUBLICATIONS AND PRESS COVERAGE OF SGB (CB)
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Apr 30, 2010 ... PTSD. Journal Star Apr 11, 2010. PEORIA. By ANDY KRAVETZ. Peoria veterans says stellate ganglion block has helped get stress disorder ...chicagomedicalinnovations.org/files/ptsdbook/07_WinningPTSD_Lipov.pdf
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Dr. Eugene Lipov, a Chicago-based anesthesiologist, pioneered the modern-day use of stellate-ganglion block (SGB) in 2004, to eliminate hot flashes among post-menopausal women. SGB, which has been used to relieve migraines and chronic pain since the 1920s, involves a single injection into the sympathetic nerve tissue on the right side of a cervical vertebra.
After finding a Finnish paper on the use of SGB to treat anxiety, Lipov started trying it out on patients with post-traumatic stress.
My first patient had been robbed at gun-point, Lipov tells Danger Room. She walked into my office with extreme anxiety, and walked out changed. That was three years ago, and shes still doing fine.
Lipov went on to try SGB in 12 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. His first patient, a vet who awoke to find himself strangling his wife, said the procedures impact was immediate. The effects took only seven minutes to kick in, but subsided nearly instantly after a fireworks display re-triggered the condition. A second shot, in 2008, alleviated the PTSD again. Since then, its so far so good, Lipov says.
According to the article, Barack Obama has been supporting this possible treatment since 2007 but the Pentagon has twice rejected Dr Lipovs requests for military funding.
detailed article above, check it out..
I hope the military will start looking closer at this and perhaps cover it for PTSD. As for private insurance, I couldn't find any info, good luck finding this out - best option would be to call insurance company directly. Or even medicare. And of course, request coverage for this procedure from insurance, and if they tell you there is not sufficient evidence - contact your local gov rep for necessary funding. Definitely the vets deserve a chance to see if this treatment works. I cannot think of all the suicides and breakdowns that those in service experience. My heart goes out to them and all others who were traumatized one way or another.
Perhaps Dr. Bob can contact above mentioned ganglion block pioneer who seems to work in same area as him - Chicago, to determine the prospects of insurance coverage of this procedure for PTSD, and as to the exact process to making changes in current insurance coverage on this.
Tommy
poster:bodhisattva_guy
thread:978681
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110130/msgs/978742.html