Introduction: Migraine headache is a widespread neurovascular disorder with an enormous social and economic impact. A subgroup of patients cannot be managed with pharmacological therapy. Although surgical decompression of extracranial sensory nerves has been proposed as a valid alternative treatment option, the medical community remains reluctant to accept it.
Materials and methods: This systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. An electronic search was performed in September 2020 on PubMed, ScienceDirect, CENTRAL, and Google Scholar databases for original articles reporting outcomes on migraine surgery.
Results: The search strategy revealed a total of 922 studies, of which 52 were included in the review. Significant improvement was reported in 58.3% to 100% and complete elimination in 8.3% to 86.8% of patients across studies. No major complications were reported.
Discussion: This systematic review demonstrates that migraine surgery is an effective and safe procedure, with a positive impact in patients' quality of life and a reduction in long-term costs.
Conclusion: There is considerable scientific evidence suggesting extracranial migraine surgery is an effective and safe procedure. This surgery should be considered in properly selected migraineurs refractory to medical treatment.
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