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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2026; 14(3): 114521
Published online Jan 26, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v14.i3.114521
Published online Jan 26, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v14.i3.114521
Sphenopalatine ganglion block for postdural puncture headache: A review of current evidence
Pratap Rudra Mahanty, Biswajit Sen, Rishi Anand, Deb Sanjay Nag, Nirakar Pahadi, Dona Lodh, Tinali Upadhyaya, Department of Anaesthesiology, Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur 831001, Jharkhand, India
Pratap Rudra Mahanty, Rishi Anand, Department of Anaesthesiology, Manipal Tata Medical College, Jamshedpur 831017, Jharkhand, India
Author contributions: Mahanty PR, Sen B, Anand R, Nag DS, Pahadi N, Lodh D, and Upadhyaya T contributed to the design manuscript, writing of manuscript; data extraction, editing the manuscript and review of literature, and statistical analysis of the research; Mahanty PR, Sen B, Anand R, Nag DS contributed to the discussion the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Deb Sanjay Nag, Consultant, Department of Anaesthesiology, Tata Main Hospital, C Road West, Northern Town, Bistupur, Jamshedpur 831001, Jharkhand, India.
Received: September 22, 2025
Revised: October 27, 2025
Accepted: January 9, 2026
Published online: January 26, 2026
Processing time: 122 Days and 17.4 Hours
Revised: October 27, 2025
Accepted: January 9, 2026
Published online: January 26, 2026
Processing time: 122 Days and 17.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is a debilitating complication of spinal anesthesia. Although the epidural blood patch remains the established gold standard invasive treatment, the sphenopalatine ganglion block has emerged as a promising minimally invasive alternative. Sphenopalatine ganglion block operates by interrupting the parasympathetic pathways responsible for cerebral vasodilation, which underlies PDPH. It provides rapid pain relief in majority of cases, with minimal side effects. Its ease of application and high success rate make it an excellent alternative, allowing patients to avoid or delay more invasive procedures such as epidural blood patch, particularly in cases of mild to moderate PDPH.