TY - JOUR

T1 - Acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of post-traumatic headache

T2 - a systematic review

AU - Larsen, Eigil Lindekilde

AU - Ashina, Håkan

AU - Iljazi, Afrim

AU - Al-Khazali, Haidar Muhsen

AU - Seem, Kristoffer

AU - Ashina, Messoud

AU - Ashina, Sait

AU - Schytz, Henrik Winther

PY - 2019/10

Y1 - 2019/10

N2 - Background: Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is associated with considerable disability and reduced health-related quality of life. Despite the very high prevalence of PTH, there are no evidence-based guidelines for PTH treatment. Thus, we found it timely to provide a systematic review of the current literature on acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of PTH using PubMed and Embase databases. Findings: Included studies involved acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of headache attributed to traumatic injury to the head in adherence to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria. Of 1424 potentially relevant articles identified, 63 were retrieved for detailed evaluation and seven studies (one prospective and six retrospective) met the inclusion criteria. None of the seven included studies were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) or used a placebo-controlled study design. Conclusion: We found that there is a lack of high-quality evidence-based studies on the pharmacological treatment of PTH. Future studies are highly needed and must emphasize open-label studies with rigorous methodology or RCTs with a placebo-controlled design.

AB - Background: Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is associated with considerable disability and reduced health-related quality of life. Despite the very high prevalence of PTH, there are no evidence-based guidelines for PTH treatment. Thus, we found it timely to provide a systematic review of the current literature on acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of PTH using PubMed and Embase databases. Findings: Included studies involved acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of headache attributed to traumatic injury to the head in adherence to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria. Of 1424 potentially relevant articles identified, 63 were retrieved for detailed evaluation and seven studies (one prospective and six retrospective) met the inclusion criteria. None of the seven included studies were randomized clinical trials (RCTs) or used a placebo-controlled study design. Conclusion: We found that there is a lack of high-quality evidence-based studies on the pharmacological treatment of PTH. Future studies are highly needed and must emphasize open-label studies with rigorous methodology or RCTs with a placebo-controlled design.

KW - Concussion

KW - Head injury

KW - Post-traumatic headache

KW - Systematic review

KW - Traumatic brain injury

KW - Treatment

U2 - 10.1186/s10194-019-1051-7

DO - 10.1186/s10194-019-1051-7

M3 - Review

C2 - 31638888

AN - SCOPUS:85073734600

VL - 20

JO - Journal of Headache and Pain

JF - Journal of Headache and Pain

SN - 1129-2369

M1 - 98

ER -