title: Characteristics and treatment of headache after traumatic brain injury: a focused review.
abstract: Headache is one of the most common complaints in patients with traumatic brain injury. By definition, headache that develops within 1 wk after head trauma (or within 1 wk after regaining consciousness) is referred to as posttraumatic headache (PTH). Although most PTH resolves within 6-12 mos after injury, approximately 18-33% of PTH persists beyond 1 yr. We performed a systematic literature review on this topic and found that many patients with PTH had clinical presentations very similar to tension-type headache (37% of all PTH) and migraine (29% of all PTH). Although there is no universally accepted protocol for treating PTH, many clinicians treat PTH as if they were managing primary headache. As a result of the heterogeneity in the terminology and paucity in prospective, well-controlled studies in this field, there is a definite need for conducting double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment trials in patients with PTH.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Henry L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Lew
authors.forename: Pei-Hsin
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jong-Ling
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fuh
authors.forename: Shuu-Jiun
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D051298:Post-Traumatic Headache / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011613:Psychotherapy
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D000779:Anesthetics, Local