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LONG COVID AND DISAUTONOMIA
After recovering from COVID infection, a significant proportion of individuals develop long-term health problems, known as Long Covid. It is estimated that anywhere from 10% to 30% of patients experience a wide range of lingering symptoms.
More than 200 Long Covid symptoms have been reported. The most common are fatigue, cognitive impairment, memory loss, anxiety, shortness of breath, chest pain, muscle pain, joint pain, extremity pain, headache, altered smell, altered taste, and altered bowel function. Patients with Long Covid often experience reduced quality of life, mental health difficulties, and employment issues. It is a frustrating and perplexing condition with no reliable time course—some patients have suffered for years with no improvement. With the mounting human toll, Long Covid is becoming a public health disaster.
Like many caring and compassionate medical providers, Dr. Luke Liu was determined to put his expertise and innovative spirit to work to help those suffering from Long Covid. In July 2021, Dr. Liu discovered that the most common procedure he performs, the stellate ganglion block, alleviated the symptoms of several Long Covid patients. The procedure provided instant improvement to symptoms such as altered taste, altered smell, cognitive impairment, memory loss, anxiety, chest pain, and extremity pain. It was an exciting Eureka (Aha!) moment for the patients and the Neuroversion team: dysautonomia seems to be the main feature and possibly an underlying cause of Long Covid, at least in a subset of the patient population.
When it became apparent the clinical response was reproducible and durable in more patients, Dr. Liu and Dr. Deborah Duricka rushed to inform the world by submitting their manuscript on a preprint server and contacting as many Long Covid support groups as they could. There was an urgency to provide insight to researchers investigating the mechanism of Long Covid and to offer hope to suffering patients in desperation worldwide. After a grueling process of submissions and revisions, their report was accepted by the Journal of Neuroimmunology, a respected peer-reviewed medical journal, in December 2021. Link to their article here.
Since its publication, this medical discovery in Anchorage Alaska has garnered much attention internationally, especially among the Long Covid/ME/CFS patient groups. Around the world, there have been reports of patient improvement after stellate ganglion block. Large medical and scientific institutions are now planning for large studies to evaluate this novel Long Covid treatment and identify the population of Long COVID patients for whom the stellate ganglion block is a reliably effective treatment option.
The following are links to some of the news articles since Dr. Liu’s discovery and publication:
Despite the reproducible clinical success reported elsewhere, Dr. Liu cautions that his publication was not meant to be a cookbook recipe, but rather a proof of concept. Stellate ganglion block is not the holy grail to a complex and enigmatic medical condition. It should never be advertised as a tool for financial exploitation of vulnerable patients in desperation, especially by charlatans whose inexperience and lack of qualification could endanger patients.
Dr. Liu completed his medical education and specialty training at top notch world renowned medical institutions. He is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. He relies on his education and experience to safely perform the procedure. To this day, Dr. Liu has performed more than 13,000 stellate ganglion blocks, making him one of the most experienced and authoritative physicians on the subject. Because of his unique experience, he has refined the procedure to minimize patient discomfort and maximize safety. For example, while the conventional needle used for the procedure is typically 22 gauge or 25 gauge in size, Dr. Liu’s exceptional skill and extensive experience have enabled him to perform the procedure with remarkable safety and effectiveness, using a much smaller 27 gauge or 30 gauge needle, a size that is even smaller than the needle used for the COVID vaccine. This extraordinary technical feat that minimizes tissue trauma is achievable by only a select few individuals in the world.
At Neuroversion, the stellate ganglion block continues to be used as an option to treat appropriate Long Covid patients. Most responded well with positive and durable clinical results. However, the stellate ganglion block is not the only tool Dr. Liu uses to treat a condition as complex as Long Covid. Patients always need individualized and carefully considered treatment plans, and Dr. Liu uses additional interventions to treat patients with Long Covid when appropriate. Quality and compassionate care is not “one-size-fits-all.”
Dr. Liu completed his medical education and specialty training at top notch world renowned medical institutions. He is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. He relies on his education and experience to safely perform the procedure. To this day, Dr. Liu has performed more than 13,000 stellate ganglion blocks, making him one of the most experienced and authoritative physicians on the subject. Because of his unique experience, he has refined the procedure to minimize patient discomfort and maximize safety. For example, while the conventional needle used for the procedure is typically 22 gauge or 25 gauge in size, Dr. Liu’s exceptional skill and extensive experience have enabled him to perform the procedure with remarkable safety and effectiveness, using a much smaller 27 gauge or 30 gauge needle, a size that is even smaller than the needle used for the COVID vaccine. This extraordinary technical feat that minimizes tissue trauma is achievable by only a select few individuals in the world.
Meanwhile, Dr. Liu and Dr. Duricka are continuing to collaborate with esteemed and far more experienced Long Covid/ME/CFS researchers around the world on the quest to find the underlying mechanisms causing Long Covid/ME/CFS and to develop effective treatments.
We have also been inviting local medical providers and those from outside of Alaska to learn from our conceptual knowledge and technical experience. We believe the puzzle of Long Covid can only be solved through collaborative efforts and sharing of information.
The Neuroversion team is committed to taking care of Long Covid patients with our partners in the medical community.
We have been receiving Long Covid patients from outside Alaska and even outside of the US. Due to the ongoing pandemic and the fluid situation, we do not advise patients to travel. We encourage the patients to seek treatment from legitimate and experienced local anesthesiologists and pain medicine specialists. With that said, our door is always open to those in desperate need who cannot get adequate care locally.
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