Headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A double-blind comparison of onabotulinumtoxina (BOTOX) and topiramate (TOPAMAX) for the prophylactic treatment of chronic migraine: a pilot study.
There is a need for effective prophylactic therapy for chronic migraine (CM) that has minimal side effects. ⋯ OnabotulinumtoxinA and topiramate demonstrated similar efficacy in the prophylactic treatment of CM. Patients receiving onabotulinumtoxinA had fewer AEs and discontinuations.
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Occipital nerve block (ONB) is a promising treatment for headaches. Its indications, selection criteria, and best techniques are not clear, however. ⋯ Occipital nerve block is an effective treatment for cervicogenic headache, cluster headache, and occipital neuralgia. While a double blinded randomized placebo controlled clinical trial is lacking, multiple open label studies reported favorable results for migraine. Two other possible uses of ONB worthy of further study are use as a rescue treatment and as an adjunctive treatment for medication overuse headache. ONB may be effective for tension headache, but only under very specific circumstances. ONB is either ineffective or only effective under as yet unstudied circumstances for hemicrania continua and chronic paroxysmal hemicrania. Some practitioners use occipital nerve (ON) tenderness to palpation (TTP) or reproduction of headache pain with ON pressure (RHPONP) as selection criteria for identifying appropriate patients. While only a clinical trial can produce a definitive answer, current evidence suggests that these selection criteria are not necessary for cervicogenic headache or cluster headache. Occipital neuralgia by definition involves TTP of the ONs. Whether RHPONP or ON TTP predicts success in migraine is unclear, and may relate to whether steroids are used. A single blinded randomized controlled trial evaluating local anesthetic with steroids vs local anesthetic alone for transformed migraine reported slightly worse results with steroids, but there are several alternate explanations for this finding other than steroids being counterproductive. The technique of repetitive ONBs deserves further study.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Topiramate for migraine prevention in a naturalistic setting: results from an open label, flexible dose study.
Headaches are one of the most common neurological symptoms and migraines are the most common primary headache disorder. The global prevalence of migraines is around 10% and the condition is associated with a high burden of disease. Despite an abundance of good quality evidence, only 1 in 5 of patients who fulfill the criteria for preventive migraine therapy are appropriately treated. Data on patient outcomes with preventive medication derive mostly from specialized academic centers, which contrasts with normal clinical practice where the majority of patients are treated outside tertiary care centers. ⋯ Topiramate used for migraine prevention in non-academic institutions is generally safe, well tolerated and results in good control of migraine headaches and improvement in several aspects of quality of life.