Headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy of a fixed combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine, and caffeine versus sumatriptan in acute treatment of multiple migraine attacks: a multicenter, randomized, crossover trial.
To compare the efficacy of a fixed combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine, and caffeine suppositories with sumatriptan suppositories in the treatment of 2 consecutive migraine attacks of moderate or severe intensity in a multicenter, randomized, crossover study. ⋯ This study, analyzed according to the more recent guidelines for controlled trials in migraine, showed that a fixed combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine, and caffeine is significantly more effective than sumatriptan in the acute treatment of migraine attacks. It is notable that the combination is less expensive than sumatriptan per unit dose.
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Review Case Reports
Familial trigeminal neuralgia: case reports and review of the literature.
The paroxysmal facial pain of trigeminal neuralgia is usually idiopathic, but familial cases have been described. We describe a family with apparent autosomal dominant transmission of trigeminal neuralgia. Our cases and a review of the literature suggest that the etiology of trigeminal neuralgia may be vascular compression of the fifth cranial nerve. Autosomal dominant vascular and epileptic disorders are reviewed, and possible relationships to familial trigeminal neuralgia are considered.
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Comparative Study
Confirmation of the distinction between chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache by the McGill Pain Questionnaire.
To investigate if the McGill Pain Questionnaire confirms the distinction between chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache. ⋯ In the disorders characterized by a daily and near-daily headache, the McGill Pain Questionnaire consistently can discriminate between those evolving from migraine and those evolving from tension-type headache, indirectly confirming the validity of a distinction between these 2 clinical conditions. The differences are similar to those observed between patients with migraine and patients with episodic tension-type headache. This seems to be independent of the pain level since the difference of the total pain-rating index and the visual analog scale between chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache was not statistically significant.
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To investigate potential differences in various aspects of personality in women with migraine with aura, without aura, and in healthy volunteers. ⋯ Our results suggest that migraineurs with aura differ from migraineurs without aura and healthy control subjects in terms of anxiety and depression. With regard to health-related locus of control, there was no correlation among mean number of migraine attacks per year, duration of disease, time of last migraine attack, and number of aura symptoms.
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The overuse of short-acting barbiturate medications for the acute treatment of headache is a common problem in the United States. Most experts agree that withdrawal from these medications is necessary for subsequent headache treatment to be successful, yet there are few published articles outlining effective methods of drug withdrawal. ⋯ Management of butalbital withdrawal can be simplified by using a phenobarbital-loading protocol, taking advantage of the natural tapering afforded by the drug's long half-life. This method possesses most of the characteristics of an ideal drug withdrawal program for patients with headache who are overusing medications.