Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Acute treatment of migraine attacks: efficacy and safety of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac-potassium, in comparison to oral sumatriptan and placebo. The Diclofenac-K/Sumatriptan Migraine Study Group.
Migraine attacks are often treated with simple analgesics or with ergotamine-containing preparations alone or in combination with anti-emetics. Although also sometimes used to treat migraine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have not been systematically evaluated in controlled clinical trials, particularly in comparison with the newer drug sumatriptan. Sumatriptan is a specific migraine treatment which has recently become among the most widely prescribed acute migraine therapies. However, while effective, it has low oral bioavailability and some problematic adverse effects. Diclofenac-potassium is a potent NSAID available as a fast-acting oral tablet, which has been shown to be safe and effective in several other acute pain indications. In the clinical trial reported here, the efficacy and safety of diclofenac-potassium in the acute treatment of migraine attacks has been tested in comparison with oral sumatriptan and placebo. ⋯ Compared with placebo and the reference therapy sumatriptan, diclofenac-potassium is an effective, fast-acting, and well-tolerated acute oral therapy for migraine attacks, with advantages over oral sumatriptan in terms of onset of analgesic effect, reduction of accompanying symptoms, and tolerability profile. It may therefore be useful as an alternative oral therapy for migraine attacks.