Skip to main content
AAPM&R 2025 Main banner
JFK
Final Program


Official Program
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
On Demand
On Demand
In-Person
In-Person
Livestream
Livestream
Invite Only
Invite Only
Ticketed
Ticketed
Coffee Break
Coffee Break
Meal
Meal
Reception
Reception
Rate ePoster

General Rehabilitation

Stellate Ganglion Block as Adjunctive Treatment for Long COVID-19: A Case Report

Thursday, October 23, 2025
12:45 PM - 2:15 PM MT
Location: Kiosk 1

    Primary Author(s)

  • Sudeep Peddireddy, MD

    PGY-3 Resident Physician
    Temple University Hospital Program
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    • Co-Author(s)

  • GH

    Gabriel Howard, DO

    Resident Physician
    Temple University Hospital Program
    Portsmouth, Ohio

  • AR

    Andrew Reish, MD

    Physician Provider
    Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital
    Allentown, Pennsylvania

Disclosure(s):
Sudeep Peddireddy, MD: No financial relationships to disclose
Case Diagnosis: Long COVID Syndrome Treated by Stellate Ganglion Block

Case Description or Program Description: A 48-year-old male developed persistent brain fog, neck dysesthesias, and lightheadedness two months after a confirmed COVID-19 infection.
The patient reported inability to work or drive long distances. The patient reports that he started taking sertraline 25 mg daily for anxiety six weeks prior to presentation but otherwise denies starting any new medications. Vision therapy and balance therapy did not yield any substantive benefit. Multiple imaging studies, including x-ray of the cervical spine, MRI of the brain and cervical spine, CT of the neck, and EEG, revealed no acute findings. Ten months after symptom onset, he underwent a left stellate ganglion block under ultrasound guidance.

Setting: Outpatient

Assessment/Results: He reported 90% improvement in neck dysesthesias within the first 24 hours post-procedure, while brain fog and dizziness worsened transiently for one week before returning to baseline. The patient’s neck dysesthesias have resolved, and he reported improved driving tolerance. He continued to report brain fog. Future SGB were deferred due to patient satisfaction with resolution of neck dysesthesias and improved driving tolerance.

Discussion (relevance): Though SGB is primarily used in cases of pain and autonomic dysregulation, it has demonstrated promising results for Long COVID symptoms. In this case, SGB provided the patient with substantial relief from neck dysesthesias; however it did not yield improvement in brain fog. A retrospective study by Pearson et al. (2023) reported symptomatic relief in 86% of patients following SGB. Notably, this paper reported that 100% of patients reported relief of dysesthesias while only 60% reported relief of brain fog, mirroring the variable response in the present case.

Conclusions: Stellate ganglion block can provide symptomatic relief for patients with Long COVID syndrome, specifically for dysesthesias but also potentially for brain fog.