Narcotic analgesics for acute migraine in the emergency room: are we meeting Headache Societies' guidelines?
We analysed 161 patients with acute migraine in our emergency room (ER) to identify the use of narcotic analgesics as first-line treatment. Twenty-four percent of patients were treated with opioid analgesics and 76% patients were treated with non-opioid analgesics. Pain was completely relieved in 100 (62%) patients, partially relieved in 50 (31%) patients and was not relieved in 11 (7%) patients at the time of discharge. Pain relief was not related to the use of opioids vs. non-opioids. The treatment of acute migraine in our ER is in line with the guidelines of the Headache Societies and needs further improvement.
Wasay
Mohammad
M
Department of Neurology, The Aga Khan University, and Department of Medicine, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan. mohammad.wasay@aku.edu
Zaki
Khawaja Slaman
KS
Khan
Saqib Uddin
SU
Rehmani
Riffat
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009294:Narcotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D009294:Narcotics