Office-Based Superior Laryngeal Nerve Block for Treatment of Neurogenic Cough

Eligibility Criteria

• * Age 18 years or older
• * Ability of patients to speak and understand English
• * Ability for patients to consent for themselves
• * Cough for 8 weeks or greater, with suspected sensory neuropathic etiology of the cough. Inclusion based on history of preceding upper respiratory infection or other symptoms suggestive of irritable larynx such as cough in response to temperature changes, odors, scents/perfumes, tickle, irritation in the throat/paralaryngeal region, or talking.
• * Persistent cough despite treatment of ALL the major contributors of cough (items listed below would be done as part of a standard clinical workup for chronic cough and are not done specific to this study):
• * Reflux disease treatment with one of the following: failure of two months of PPIs OR negative pH study
• * Asthma: lack of response to at least one month of steroid inhaler/bronchodilator OR normal PFTs/negative methacholine challenge + negative CXR/CT
• * Upper airway cough syndrome/Allergic disease: lack of response to at least one month of antihistamines/decongestants/nasal steroids OR negative allergy testing (skin or serum) OR lack of response to at least one year of immunotherapy/allergy shots
• * Age less than 18 years
• * Patients unable or unwilling to provide informed consent
• * Known etiology to cough other than sensory neuropathy (e.g., reflux disease, asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• * Addition of new neuromodulators at the time of the injection. Patients who were already being treated with neuromodulators for their cough (e.g., gabapentin, amitriptyline) will not be excluded provided their dose remains constant.
• * Nissen fundoplication within the last year
• * Smoking history within last 5 years
• * Allergy to bupivacaine or Kenalog-40