• Victoria Karian, Hannah Morton, Zoë J Schefter, Allison Smith, Hannah Rogan, Brenna Morse, and Alyssa LeBel.
• Pediatric Headache Program, Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2023 Dec 1; 24 (6): 610616610-616.

BackgroundMigraine is a painful, prevalent, and problematic condition among children. Children need access to safe and effective treatment options to alleviate the impact of this chronic condition on their wellbeing.Clinical ImplicationsNurses have a crucial role in supporting patient access to BTX-A. Given the results of this and other studies demonstrating the safety and efficacy of BTX-A in children, nurses can support policy change for health plans to fund this intervention for pediatric migraineurs. Allowing children to receive the safe and effective BTX-A injections will lessen the already significant impact of chronic migraine on their physical, emotional and mental health. Nurses can also play a key role in providing education to patients regarding safe administration of BTX-A for migraine.AimThe objective of this study was to define the experiences, effects, and clinical response of children to onabotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A) for migraine prevention.MethodsClinical documentation for patients aged 13-17 years presenting for BTX-A treatment for chronic migraine between 2016-2022 in a community-based specialty clinic within a large, urban, pediatric academic medical center were included. A series of one-way repeated measures (analysis of variance [ANOVA]) were conducted to compare headache frequency, severity, and duration at baseline, and following first and second injections of BTX-A.ResultsOf 32 eligible participants, administration of BTX-A demonstrated a decrease in headache frequency and severity. Participants reported nearly seven fewer headache days per month. Participants reported neck stiffness, fever or flu-like symptoms, fatigue, and worsening pain following BTX-A administration.ConclusionsPediatric migraineurs need therapies that are safe, effective, and accessible. BTX-A was a safe and effective treatment for migraine among the children included in this study.Copyright © 2023 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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