• Cristina Pellegrino Baena, Raíssa Campos D'Amico, Helena Slongo, André Russowsky Brunoni, Alessandra Carvalho Goulart, and Isabela Benseñor.
• MD, PhD. Professor, School of Medicine, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR), Curitiba (PR), Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2017 Jan 1; 135 (1): 424942-49.

Context And Objective:Many researchers have suggested that aspirin prevents migraines. However, the evidence is unclear. The aim of this study was to analyze the available evidence on the effect of aspirin as a migraine prophylactic.Design And Setting:Systematic review, conducted at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil, and at the University of São Paulo, Brazil.Methods:We performed electronic searches in the databases of MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, WEB OF SCIENCE, the World Health Organization, CENTRAL and OpenGrey, and we also searched manually for interventional studies published before April 2016 that compared the effects of aspirin with a control, in adults. Two authors independently extracted data on the publication, population recruited, intervention (aspirin dosage, follow-up and combined treatment) and main outcomes (frequency, severity and duration of migraine). We evaluated the quality of the studies using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool.Results:Our search retrieved 1,098 references, of which 8 met the selection criteria for this systematic review. The total population was 28,326 participants (18-64 years old); most (96%) were men. The dosage varied from 50 to 650 mg/day across the studies. The risk of bias was generally low or unclear. The only outcome for which most of the studies included (6/8) reported a significant reduction was frequency of migraine, which was reduced at an aspirin dosage of at least 325 mg/day.Conclusion:Aspirin can reduce the frequency of migraines. However, the optimal dosage is unclear.

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