• Bahram Naderinabi, Alia Saberi, Masood Hashemi, Mohammad Haghighi, Gelareh Biazar, Farid Abolhasan Gharehdaghi, Abbas Sedighinejad, and Tahereh Chavoshi.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Anesthesiology Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
• Caspian J Intern Med. 2017 Jan 1; 8 (3): 196-204.

BackgroundMigraine is a common type of headache. Sometimes adequate pain relief is not achieved by conventional treatments. Acupuncture and botulinum toxin-A injection are known as non-pharmacological interventions for this purpose. The aim of this research was to compare the effect of acupuncture with botulinum toxin-A injection and pharmacological treatment in controlling chronic migraine.MethodsThis clinical trial was conducted on patients with chronic migraine in the North of Iran during 2014-2015. Eligible patients were randomly allocated to groups receiving acupuncture (A) or botulinum toxin A (B) and controls (C) by designed quadripartite blocks. All patients were evaluated at baseline, one, two and three months after treatment using visual analogue scale (VAS) score and other parameters. The analysis of data was performed in SPSS software Version 19.ResultsOne hundred fifty patients (48 males and 102 females) completed this study. During the 3- month study, the pain severity significantly diminished in three groups (P=0.0001), with greater reduction in group A (P=0.0001). The number of days per month with migraine, absence from work and the need for medication significantly decreased in three groups at 3 times of evaluation (p<0.05) with fewer side effects in group A (P=0.021).ConclusionAcupuncture, botulinum toxin-A injection and pharmacological treatment have beneficial effects on chronic migraine; however, acupuncture showed more effectiveness and fewer complications.

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