• Xiping Liang, Guomin Ying, Qingqing Huang, Jing Wang, Nan Li, Ge Tan, Tristan R Zhang, Zhen Huang, and Jiying Zhou.
• Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
• Pain Med. 2014 May 1;15(5):871-5.

ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of primary stabbing headache (PSH) and its prevalence in a neurology outpatient center at a university hospital in China.MethodsWe surveyed patients via face-to-face interviews by physicians using a questionnaire for headache.ResultsOf 1,219 participating patients with headache, 18 (1.5%) were diagnosed with PSH. The mean age was 44.1 ± 15.5 years. The headaches were localized to a single fixed area in 61.1% of patients. The frontal cerebral regions were reported as most common areas. Fourteen patients (77.8%) suffered from moderate to severe intensity headache with a mean score of 4.3 ± 1.9 on an 11-point pain scale. Of the patients, 27.8% had accompanying symptoms with photophobia/phonophobia as the most common complaint(s). Fifty percent of patients reported trigger factors, with weather change noted as a common trigger.ConclusionPSH was shown to have an onset at middle age with moderate-to-severe intensity attacks localized predominantly within the first division of the trigeminal nerve. Accompanying phenomena and trigger factors were common and should be noted, implying further research to be conducted.Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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