Migraine: Expanding our Tx arsenal
Beyond tried-and-true therapies are new therapeutic targets on the horizon—giving you a bigger toolbox to help patients abort and prevent migraine episodes.
PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS
› Offer treatment with a triptan to adult patients with moderate-to-severe episodic migraine. A
› Consider prescribing topiramate, divalproex sodium, metoprolol, propranolol, or the herbal, Petasites hybridum, for the prevention of recurrent episodic migraine that has not responded to a reduction in headache triggers. A
› Add onabotulinumtoxinA injection to your therapeutic toolbox as an effective preventive treatment for chronic migraine (≥15 headache days a month for 3 months). B
› Recommend magnesium and feverfew as adjunctive preventive treatments for migraine. B
Strength of recommendation (SOR)
A Good-quality patient-oriented evidence
B Inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence
C Consensus, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence, case series
For moderate-to-severe migraine, triptans, which target serotonin receptors, are the drug of choice for most patients.21 Triptans are superior to placebo in achieving a pain-free state at 2 and 24 hours after administration; eletriptan has the most desirable outcome, with 68% of patients pain free at 2 hours and 54% pain free at 24 hours.22 Triptans are available as sublingual tablets and nasal sprays, as well as subcutaneous injections for patients with significant associated nausea and vomiting. Avoid prescribing triptans for patients with known vascular disease (eg, history of stroke, myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or signs and symptoms of these conditions), as well as for patients with severe hepatic impairment.
Importantly, although triptans all have a similar mechanism of action, patients might respond differently to different drugs within the class. If a patient does not get adequate headache relief from an appropriate dosage of a given triptan during a particular migraine episode, a different triptan can be tried during the next migraine.22 Additionally, if a patient experiences an adverse effect from one triptan, this does not necessarily mean that a trial of another triptan at a later time is contraindicated.
For patients who have an incomplete response to migraine treatment or for those with frequent recurrence, the combination formulation of sumatriptan, 85 mg, and naproxen, 500 mg, showed the highest rate of resolution of headache within 2 hours compared with either drug alone.23 A similar result might be found by combining a triptan known to be effective for a patient and an NSAID other than naproxen. If migraine persists despite initial treatment of an attack, a different class of medication should be tried during the course of that attack to attain relief of symptoms of that migraine.21
When a patient is seen in an acute care setting (eg, emergency department, urgent care center) while suffering a migraine, additional treatment options are available. Intravenous (IV) anti-emetics are useful for relieving the pain of migraine and nausea, and can be used in combination with an IV NSAID (eg, ketorolac).21 The most effective anti-emetics are dopamine receptor type-2 blockers, including chlorpromazine, droperidol, metoclopramide, and prochlorperazine, which has the highest level of efficacy.24 Note that these medications do present the risk of a dystonic reaction; diphenhydramine is therefore often used in tandem to mitigate such a response.
Looking ahead. Although triptans are the current first-line therapy for acute migraine, their effectiveness is limited. Only 20% of patients report sustained relief of pain in the 2 to 24 hours after treatment, and the response can vary from episode to episode.25
Continue to: With better understading of the pathophysiology of migraine...
