CJEM Articles: migraine
Displaying 1-6 of 6 results
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March
2011
13
2
Anne-Maree Kelly, Lim Beng Leong
Objectives:Butyrophenones have been reported to provide effective migraine relief in the emergency department (ED). We conducted a systematic review of the evidence for their use in the ED.
Data source:We searched the Cochrane, Medline, Embase, and CINAHL databases.
Study selection:Included studies were randomized trials of a parenteral butyrophenone (droperidol, haloperidol) versus placebo or a comparator in migraine or benign headache with results available in English. Study quality was determined using the Jadad score. Six articles were included.
Data extraction:Primary outcomes were subjective or objective headache relief (> 50% improvement in visual analogue scale scores). Secondary outcomes included side effects. We reported pooled odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for subjective or objective headache relief for butyrophenones versus placebo or comparator agents.
Data synthesis:Three studies reported subjective headache relief with a butyrophenone versus placebo or meperidine in migraine. Two studies reported objective headache relief with droperidol versus prochlorperazine, whereas one study compared droperidol versus olanzapine in benign headache. The pooled OR for subjective headache relief was 8.08 (95% CI 1.54–42.30) for a butyrophenone versus placebo, whereas it was 1.50 (95% CI 0.33–6.77) for droperidol versus meperidine in migraine. The pooled OR for objective headache relief was 2.96 (95% CI 1.36–6.43) for droperidol versus prochlorperazine in benign headache. Rates of side effects were 10 to 45%; akathesia and sedation were the most common.
Conclusions:Butyrophenones are effective for the relief of migraine or benign headache. However, adverse effects make it difficult to recommend butyrophenones above agents with similar effectiveness and fewer problems. -
May
2010
12
3
Benoit Bailey, Evelyne Doyon-Trottier, Sergio Manzano
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May
2008
10
3
none
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November
2006
8
6
Curtis J. Hunter, Eric Y. Baden
Objective: To evaluate whether the addition of intravenous (IV) dexamethasone to standard emergency department (ED) benign headache therapy would reduce the incidence of headache recurrence at 48-72 hours.
Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of adult patients presenting with the chief complaint of headache was conducted in the ED of 2 academic, urban Level 1 hospitals. Headache evaluation and therapy were determined by the treating physician, and, before discharge, patients were administered either 10 mg of IV dexamethasone or placebo. The treatment groups had similar baseline characteristics, abortive therapy, IV fluids and degree of pain relief achieved before discharge. Patients were contacted 48-72 hours following discharge and asked whether their headache was "better," "worse" or "remained unchanged" when compared with their symptoms at discharge. Those whose headaches were "worse" or "unchanged," and those who reported a return of headache after being pain free at discharge were considered to be treatment failures and classified as having had a recurrence. The patient's headache at follow-up was further categorized as severe (i.e., provoking another physician visit or interfering with daily activity) or mild (i.e., requiring self-medication or no treatment).
Results: Fifty-seven patients met the inclusion criteria and 2 were lost to follow-up, leaving 55 for analysis. At follow-up, 9.7% (3/31) of those receiving dexamethasone had headache recurrence, versus 58.3% (14/24) of those receiving placebo (p < 0.001). Four dexamethasone recipients (12.9%) had severe headaches at follow-up compared with 8 (33.3%) in the placebo group (p = 0.14).
Conclusions: In this study, IV dexamethasone reduced headache recurrence at 48-72-hour follow-up. Given its excellent safety profile and likely benefit, IV dexamethasone should be considered for ED headache patients after standard evaluation and therapy.
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September
2004
6
5
Carin M. Olson, Klaus B. Shuler, Leonard R. Frank, Salma F. Gharib
Background: Magnesium deficiency may play a role in the pathogenesis of migraines and other headaches. Studies in outpatient clinics have found that magnesium administered intravenously (IV) reduces headache pain. We investigated the effectiveness of IV magnesium in patients with acute benign headache who presented to the emergency department (ED).
Methods: This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial compared 2 g of IV magnesium versus placebo for the treatment of patients with acute benign headache who presented to the EDs of two teaching hospitals. Pre- and post-treatment pain scores were measured on a 100-mm visual analog pain scale.
Results: Forty-two patients were randomized, 21 in each treatment group. Treatment groups had similar baseline characteristics. After treatment, placebo recipients reported an 8-mm median improvement in pain, and magnesium recipients had a 3-mm improvement (p = 0.63). We found no statistically significant difference between groups for any secondary outcomes; however, the patients who received magnesium had significantly (p = 0.03) more side effects than did those in the placebo group.
Conclusions: We found no benefit to using IV magnesium to treat patients with acute benign headache who present to the ED.
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April
1999
1
1
Cathy Metcalfe, Edward C. Dillon, Grant D. Innes, Iain MacPhail, Min Gao
Objective: To determine whether the addition of intravenous dexamethasone to standard emergency department (ED) migraine therapy would decrease the incidence of severe recurrent headache 24 to 48 hours after initial treatment.
Methods: Patients aged 19 to 65 years whose headache was severe enough to require parenteral therapy and who met International Headache Society migraine criteria were eligible for this randomized, double- blind trial. The study was conducted in the ED of 2 community hospitals, 1 of which was a tertiary referral centre. Exclusion criteria included pregnancy, focal findings, fever, meningismus, allergy to the study drug, active peptic ulcer disease and diabetes mellitus. Demographic and clinical data, including headache severity, were recorded. After abortive therapy (antiemetics, intravenous nonsteroidal agents, dihydroergotamine or opioids), blinded nurses administered dexamethasone (24 mg intravenously) or placebo. Patients recorded headache severity on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at time T = 0, T = 30 minutes and T = 60 minutes and at discharge. They were contacted 48 to 72 hours later and asked whether they had suffered a recurrence of their headache, categorized as class A (severe, provoking another physician visit), class B (severe, interfering with daily activity but not provoking a physician visit), class C (mild, requiring self-medication but not limiting activity) or class D (mild, requiring no treatment).
Results: Two of 100 patients were lost to follow-up, leaving 98 in the study sample. Placebo recipients were more likely to be female; other baseline characteristics were similar between groups. Median VAS pain score was 83 mm on ED arrival, 35 mm after initial treatment and 12 mm on discharge. At followup, 65 of 98 patients had suffered headache recurrence. In the placebo versus dexamethasone groups, respectively, the results were 11 versus 0 in class A, 11 versus 9 in class B, 7 versus 11 in class C and 4 versus 12 in class D. Regarding the primary outcome, 9 of 49 dexamethasone patients (18%) and 22 of 49 placebo patients (45%) had severe (classes A and B) recurrent headache (odds ratio 0.28; 95% CI, 0.11 to 0.69; p = 0 .005).
Conclusions: Migraine recurrence is common after “successful” ED treatment. Inflammation may be a critical factor in migraine genesis. Intravenous dexamethasone decreases the incidence of severe recurrent headache after ED treatment and should be offered to patients thought to be at risk of recurrent headache.
