Rizatriptan RPD for severe migraine in the emergency department--a multicenter study.
Many patients with severe migraine come to the Emergency Department (ED) due to failure of different drug regimens to stop their headache. We treated 98 patients with severe migraine who were seen in three different EDs. We used rizatriptan RPD wafers 10 mg and observed the patients for 2 h. We found that at 2 h, 92.9% (91/98) of the patients had pain relief, and 73.5% were pain free. The mean time to pain relief was 26.9 +/- 29.6 min with a median of 15 min, and the time to pain free was 70.2 +/- 47.3 min with a median of 75 min. Eighty-five percent of the patients were free of associated symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting, at 2 h with a mean time to symptom free of 55 +/- 47.5 min and a median of 45 min. Rizatriptan was reported to be much better than other drugs by 74.4% of the patients. Side effects were minor and transient. Recurrence of migraine occurred part of the day in 17.1% of the patients and all day or almost all day in 8.6% of the patients only. The results were consistent in all three EDs. We conclude that rizatriptan RPD is very effective and reliable as a first-line therapy for acute migraine in the ED. It dissolves immediately in the mouth without the inconvenience of an injection. It works fast and has few side effects and low headache recurrence.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon 78306, Israel.
Emile
E
Hay
Joseph
J
Rodrig
Amer
A
Hussain
Hashmonai
H
Derazon
Giorgio
G
Kopelovitch
Ella
E
Dashkovsky
Natalia
N
Bokish
Michael
M
Kafka
Irina
I
Shtibelman
Shoshana
S
Nassimyan
D000328:Adult; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014230:Triazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014363:Tryptamines
D014230:Triazoles; D014363:Tryptamines; C093622:rizatriptan