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A.7.01.125
Occipital nerve stimulation delivers a small electrical charge to the occipital nerve intended to prevent migraines and other headaches in patients who have not responded to medications. The device consists of a subcutaneously implanted pulse generator (in the chest wall or abdomen) attached to extension leads that are tunneled to join electrodes placed across one or both occipital nerves at the base of the skull. Continuous or intermittent stimulation may be used.
Headache
There are four types of headache: vascular, muscle contraction (tension), traction, and inflammatory. Primary (not the result of another condition) chronic headache is defined as headache occurring more than 15 days of the month for at least three consecutive months. An estimated 45 million Americans experience chronic headaches. For at least half of these people, the problem is severe and sometimes disabling. Herein, we only discuss types of vascular headache, including migraine, hemicrania continua, and cluster.
Migraine
Migraine is the most common type of vascular headache. Migraine headaches are usually characterized by severe pain on one or both sides of the head, an upset stomach, and, at times, disturbed vision. One year prevalence of migraine ranges from 6% to 15% in adult men and from 14% to 35% in adult women. Migraine headaches may last a day or more, and can strike as often as several times a week or as rarely as once every few years.
Treatment of Migraine
Drug therapy for migraine is often combined with biofeedback and relaxation training. Sumatriptan and other triptans are commonly used for relief of symptoms. Drugs used to prevent migraine include amitriptyline, propranolol and other β-blockers, topiramate and other antiepileptic drugs, verapamil, and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors.
Hemicrania Continua
Hemicrania continua causes moderate and occasionally severe pain on only one side of the head. At least one of the following symptoms must also occur: conjunctival injection and/or lacrimation, nasal congestion and/or rhinorrhea, or ptosis and/or miosis. Headache occurs daily and is continuous with no pain-free periods. Hemicrania continua occurs mainly in women, and its true prevalence is not known.
Treatment of Hemicrania Continua
Indomethacin usually provides rapid relief of symptoms. Othernonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including ibuprofen, celecoxib, and naproxen, can provide some relief of symptoms. Amitriptyline and other tricyclic antidepressants are effective in some patients.
Cluster Headache
Cluster headache occurs in cyclical patterns or clusters of severe or very severe unilateral orbital or supraorbital and/or temporal pain. The headache is accompanied by at least one of the following autonomic symptoms: ptosis, conjunctival injection, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, and, less commonly, facial blushing, swelling, or sweating. Bouts of one (1) headache every other day up to eight (8) attacks per day may last from weeks to months, usually followed by remission periods when the headache attacks stop completely. The pattern varies by person, but most people have one or two cluster periods a year. During remission, no headaches occur for months, and sometimes even years. The intense pain is caused by the dilation of blood vessels, which creates pressure on the trigeminal nerve. While this process is the immediate cause of the pain, the etiology is not fully understood. It is more common in men than in women. One-year prevalence is estimated to be 0 to 1 in 1,000.
Treatment of Cluster Headache
Management of cluster headache consists of abortive and preventive treatment. Abortive treatments include subcutaneous injection of sumatriptan, topical anesthetics sprayed into the nasal cavity and strong coffee. Some patients respond to rapidly inhaled pure oxygen. A variety of other pharmacologic and behavioral methods of aborting and preventing attacks have been reported with wide variation in patient response.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulators
Implanted peripheral nerve stimulators have been used to treat refractory pain for many years, but have only recently been proposed to manage craniofacial pain. Occipital, supraorbital, and infraorbital stimulation have been reported in the literature.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not cleared or approved any occipital nerve stimulation device for treatment of headache. In 1999, the Synergy™ IPG device (Medtronic), an implantable pulse generator, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration through the premarket approval process for management of chronic, intractable pain of the trunk or limbs, and off-label use for headache is described in the literature. The Genesis™ Neuromodulation System (St. Jude Medical) was approved by the FDA for spinal cord stimulation, and the Eon™ stimulator has received CE mark approval in Europe for the treatment of chronic migraines. In 2017, the AnkerStim™ lead received CE mark approval for intractable chronic cluster headache.
Occipital nerve stimulation is considered investigational for all indications.
Federal Employee Program (FEP) may dictate that all FDA-approved drugs, devices or biologics may not be considered investigational and thus these devices may be assessed only on the basis of their medical necessity.
The coverage guidelines outlined in the Medical Policy Manual should not be used in lieu of the Member’s specific benefit plan language.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not cleared or approved any occipital nerve stimulation device for treatment of headache. This policy addresses potential off-label use.
Investigative is defined as the use of any treatment procedure, facility, equipment, drug, device, or supply not yet recognized as a generally accepted standard of good medical practice for the treatment of the condition being treated and; therefore, is not considered medically necessary. For the definition of Investigative, “generally accepted standards of medical practice” means standards that are based on credible scientific evidence published in peer-reviewed medical literature generally recognized by the relevant medical community, and physician specialty society recommendations, and the views of medical practitioners practicing in relevant clinical areas and any other relevant factors. In order for equipment, devices, drugs or supplies [i.e, technologies], to be considered not investigative, the technology must have final approval from the appropriate governmental bodies, and scientific evidence must permit conclusions concerning the effect of the technology on health outcomes, and the technology must improve the net health outcome, and the technology must be as beneficial as any established alternative and the improvement must be attainable outside the testing/investigational setting.
4/20/2010: New policy added.
04/20/2011: Policy reviewed; no changes.
01/17/2012: Policy reviewed; no changes.
03/13/2013: Policy reviewed; no changes.
03/10/2014: Policy reviewed; description updated regarding available devices. Policy statement unchanged.
12/22/2014: Policy reviewed; description updated. Policy statement unchanged.
08/03/2015: Code Reference section updated for ICD-10.
05/31/2016: Policy number A.7.01.125 added.
06/20/2016: Policy description updated regarding types of headache and devices. Policy statement unchanged.
06/19/2017: Policy description updated regarding drug therapy for migraines. Policy statement unchanged.
05/08/2018: Policy description updated. Policy statement unchanged.
05/10/2019: Policy reviewed; no changes.
05/29/2020: Policy description updated. Policy statement unchanged.
07/15/2021: Policy description updated regarding cluster headache and devices. Policy statement unchanged.
05/27/2022: Policy reviewed; no changes.
05/11/2023: Policy reviewed; no changes.
05/17/2024: Policy reviewed; no changes.
08/04/2025: Policy description updated regarding treatment of migraine and devices. Policy statement unchanged. Policy Guidelines updated regarding devices.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Policy # 7.01.125
This may not be a comprehensive list of procedure codes applicable to this policy.
Code Number | Description |
CPT-4 | |
64999 | Unlisted procedure, nervous system |
HCPCS | |
ICD-10 Procedure | |
ICD-10 Diagnosis |
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