ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07061847Updated May 22, 2026

Bilateral Middle Meningeal Artery Lidocaine Infusion for Chronic Debilitating Migraines

A Phase 2 interventional study of Lidocaine (drug) and Lidocaine Procedure in Migraine, sponsored by Northwell Health. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-22.

Sponsored by Northwell Health · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Mar 2025, registered Jul 2025).
  • Started Mar 2025; still recruiting 1 year 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-12

Among 13 studies testing lidocaine in Migraine Disorders — 5 open to participants now, 5 under way, none of them phase 3. Lidocaine · Migraine Disorders.

Planned enrollment
10th of 13
40 · median 50
Started
2025
with 2 others
Phase 2
2 of 13
2 open now
Registered
11th of 13
by date
Lead sponsor
1 of 13
Northwell Health

Among the 13 studies testing lidocaine in Migraine Disorders, this one is the 10th largest by planned enrollment, is one of 3 that started in 2025, is one of 2 in phase 2, and was the 11th registered.

By phase

13 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.

No phase4 · 2 open
Phase 43 · 0 open
Phase 12 · 1 open
Phase 2this study2 · 2 open
Phase 32 · 0 open

By the year they started

First in 2002; this study’s year is marked. 3 started in 2025.

Size and results

Median enrollment 50 across the 13 interventional studies. Of the 5 that completed or were terminated, 1 (20%) have results posted.

Watch this landscapeDownload CSVWith an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 13 studies testing lidocaine in Migraine Disorders, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a new treatment in improving chronic migraine symptoms. This treatment involves a targeted lidocaine infusion into blood vessels in the skull to numb pain receptors, potentially leading to improvements in chronic migraine intensity, frequency, and duration.

Read the detailed description

Given the current literature and using intent-to-treat clinical judgement, the research team believes that the treatment offered in this study may offer a promising benefit to treatment resistant migraine patients. Despite modest advances in drug therapy, some patients still suffer from chronic migraines. Therefore, the headache medicine community continues to search for alternative treatments in the form of research.

The research team is conducting a prospective observational study to gather data before and after this treatment is administered to determine whether there is improvement in migraine duration, intensity, and frequency.

This treatment is an intra-arterial bilateral lidocaine infusion into the middle meningeal artery (i.e. this is a lidocaine infusion into the brain blood vessels to turn off the pain receptors responsible for causing chronic headaches).

Lidocaine is an FDA approved anesthetic (i.e. pain killer) used in common medical practice. Lidocaine, however, has not yet been approved by the FDA for this particular use. For this reason, the use of lidocaine in this study is considered investigational.

This is NOT the first time this procedure has been performed. Intra-arterial lidocaine infusion has been used safely during the treatment of other brain diseases. Infusing brain vessels with lidocaine is not new technique. The treatment offered in this study is new for the treatment of migraines. This particular treatment has been performed successfully in the small group studies that the study investigators are modeling after. The investigative neuro-interventionists have been rigorously trained for this approach and hold a minimum of double board certifications. This team is experienced in using these techniques for other brain diseases and have successfully performed this specific procedure in a select group of early patients. Collectively, the team holds over 45+ years of experience in performing neuro-endovascular procedures.

During the intra-arterial infusion of lidocaine for treatment of a subdural procedure, an incidental finding noted that patients had reduced headache intensity following this treatment.

Therefore, this technique has been re-purposed in this study to treat chronic migraine sufferers. The procedure is considered investigational because lidocaine is not yet FDA-approved for this specific use. Although several studies have demonstrated that this approach is a safe and tolerable treatment for chronic migraine, there is still insufficient evidence to incorporate it into the current day standard of care protocol.

Ultimately, the purpose of this study is to explore this approach to and determine if this treatment can induce a significant improvement in chronic migraine, intensity, duration, and frequency.

03

Conditions studied

  • Migraine

Keywords

  • migraine
  • headache
  • intervention
  • lidocaine
  • endovascular
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Adults aged 18 to 75 years with a very severe to extremely severe medically Chronic Daily Headache (CDH).

    1. Chronic: as defined by the International Headache Society Classification ICHD 3 (>15 headache days a month for a period of at least 3 months)
    2. Medically refractory: defined as failure of ≥3 headache preventative treatments.
    3. Severely disabling (Migraine Disability Assessment [MIDAS] Tool score of ≥ 21 [Grade IV])
    4. Score of 6 (very severe) or 7 (extremely severe) on the Global Assessment of Migraine Severity (GAMS) rating scale.
    5. Head pain is at least moderate-to-severe intensity (>5 on a Visual Analog Scale) in ≥50% of headaches.
  2. Diagnosis of CDH for ≥ 12 months before screening based on medical records and/or patient self-report.
  3. Headache frequency: minimum 15 monthly headache days (MHD) on average across the 3 months prior to screening
  4. Patient reports to their provider intolerance or insufficient response with their current preventive treatment (i.e. insufficient reduction in headache frequency, duration, and severity on a standard treatment on a generally accept therapeutic dose for 6 weeks).
  5. On a stable concomitant medication and headache preventive for the 3 months prior to screening

During Baseline Period:

  1. Must have ≥ 15 MHD based on the patient self-maintained diary data during the baseline period.
  2. Must have demonstrated >75% compliance with diary data for the 28 day duration period, or longer if their baseline period carries on past this point.
  3. Must continue to meet eligibility criteria when reassessed at baseline completion visit

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Recently started new migraine preventative treatment regimen within the past 3 months.
  2. Known allergy or sensitivity to lidocaine.
  3. Lidoderm patch (not an exclusion if the Lidoderm patch has been removed for ≥ 3 days before the procedure)
  4. Severe allergy/anaphylaxis to iodinated contrast dye.
  5. Any intracranial pathology on brain imaging (head CT or MRI within the past 12 months)
  6. Chronic subdural hematoma
  7. Ischemic stroke or myocardial infarction within 3 months 8. History of renal insufficiency with Cr > 1.5 within 3 months (will be retested during pre-surgical

testing).

9. History of abnormal ECGs within 3 months, specifically:

  1. Prolonged syndrome
  2. Use of medications that may prolong the QT interval such as: anti-nausea, anti-emetics, etc.

    10. Taking any antiarrhythmic medication (other than a beta blocker)

    11. Symptomatic peripheral arterial disease

    12. Known inherited or acquired bleeding diathesis (not including antiplatelet or anticoagulation medication)

    13. Evidence of active substance-related disorders, addictive disorders, or "recreational use" of illicit drugs.

a. If any of these disorders have occurred within 12 months prior to screening, based on medical records, patient self-report, or positive urine drug test (except for prescribed medications that may result in a positive urine drug test).

14. Active chronic pain syndromes (e.g., fibromyalgia and chronic pelvic pain).

15. History of major psychiatric disorder or current evidence of moderately severe or severe depression based on a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) total score ≥ 15 at screening.

a. Subjects with history of anxiety disorder and/or major depressive disorder with PHQ-9 \< 15) and are taking no more than 1 medication, for each disorder, for at least 2 months prior to screening may be considered.

16. If the subject is pregnant, planning on pregnancy during the duration of the study, or planning on making their partner pregnant will be excluded from the study unless proper is in place.

17. Any diagnosis at the discretion of the investigator that would make the patient unfit.

Terms in these criteria, in plain language(3)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Lidocaine

    All patients who meet eligilibity criteria at their baseline visit will be scheduled for the Lidocaine procedure.

    Drug: Lidocaine (drug) · Procedure: Lidocaine Procedure

Interventions

  • The study intervention involves the use of 1% cardiac preservative-free lidocaine. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic commonly used in medical procedures to numb a specific area of the body. In this case, the lidocaine is formulated at a concentration of 1% and will be diluted to 50 mL with normal saline. This treatment is an intra-arterial bilateral lidocaine infusion into the middle meningeal artery (i.e. this is a lidocaine infusion into the brain blood vessels to turn off the pain receptors responsible for causing chronic headaches). Lidocaine is an FDA approved anesthetic (i.e. pain killer) used in common medical practice. Lidocaine, however, has not yet been approved by the FDA for this particular use. For this reason, the use of lidocaine in this study is considered investigational.

  • ProcedureLidocaine Procedure

    All patient who meet eligibility criteria at their baseline visit will be scheduled for the Liocaine procedure.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Reduction in Monthly Migraine Headache Days

    To observe a ≥50% reduction in monthly migraine headache days in one month post intra-arterial lidocaine infusion into the bilateral middle meningeal artery.

    Time frame: From enrollment to post-treatment at 3 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. ≥50% reduction in migraine headache intensity at 15 minutes, 2 hours, and 24 hours post procedure.

    Time frame: 15 minutes, 2 hours, and 24 hours post-procedure.

  2. Sustained freedom from headache pain >48hrs.

    Time frame: >48hrs post treatment

  3. Percentage of patients achieving ≥75% and 100% reduction in monthly headache days at 1 month and 3 months

    Time frame: At 1 month and 3 month post procedure

  4. Mean number of monthly migraine headaches days at 1 month and 3 months.

    Time frame: From enrollment to 1 month and 3 months post procedure

  5. Mean change from baseline in the Global Assessment of Migraine Severity (GAMS) at 3 months

    Time frame: From enrollment to 3 months post procedure

  6. Percent with improvement in Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) at 3 months from severe disability (Grade IV, score ≥21) to no moderate disability (Grade I to III, score 0-21)

    Time frame: From enrollment to 3 month post procedure

  7. Percent Headache Impact Test (HIT)-6 score <50 at 3 months.

    Time frame: From enrollment to 3 months post procedure

  8. Percent with reduction in need for analgesic use by ≥50% at 3 months.

    Time frame: From enrollment to 3 months post procedure

  9. Adverse events at 24 hours and 3 months post-procedure.

    Time frame: From enrolllment to 3 months post procedure

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Neuroscience Institute at Great Neck
    Great Neck, New York 11021, United States
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 22, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07061847
Lead sponsor
Northwell Health
Responsible party
Jeffrey Katz (Principal Investigator, Northwell Health) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 11, 2025
Start date
Mar 10, 2025
Primary completion
Mar 10, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 30, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
May 22, 2026

Study contacts

Jeffrey Katz, MD
Contact
jkatz2@northwell.edu
5163257000

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Lidocaine

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