Frovatriptan for the prevention of postdural puncture headache.
Efficacy of 5-day treatment with oral frovatriptan 2.5 mg/die for the prophylaxis of post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) was tested in 50 in-patients. A mild headache occurred in 7 (14%) patients for a total of 9 days (p < 0.01 vs. no-PDPH). Most episodes of PDPH occurred in the first days of treatment (only 1 patient had headache at dismissal): 5 patients had only 1 episode, while 2 had headache for 2 consecutive days. No other symptoms were recorded. Occurrence of PDPH in a subgroup of 6 (12%) patients previously submitted to a diagnostic lumbar puncture was also examined: 4 of them reported a PDPH on the previous lumbar puncture in absence of triptans. In only 1 of these 4 patients PDPH recurred under treatment with frovatriptan. In conclusion, our non-randomized open-label study suggests efficacy of oral frovatriptan for PDPH prevention. These results need to be confirmed in a randomized, controlled, double-blind study.
Bussone
G
G
Department of Clinical Neurology, Istituto Nazionale Neurologico C. Besta, Milano, Italy. bussone@istituto-basta.it
Tullo
V
V
d'Onofrio
F
F
Petretta
V
V
Curone
M
M
Frediani
F
F
Tonini
C
C
Omboni
S
S
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002227:Carbazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D009187:Myelitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D051299:Post-Dural Puncture Headache / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014363:Tryptamines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D002227:Carbazoles; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D014363:Tryptamines; C108128:frovatriptan