Evaluation and treatment of acute migraine in the emergency department

Abstract

Headache is one of the most common neurological complaints admitted to emergency deprtment (ED). In different studies, the proportion of patients admitted to the emergency room due to nontraumatic headache is around 0.5-4.5%. Most of the patients with headache (22-55%) are benign primary headaches. Among primary headaches, migraine is the most common reason for admission to the emergency department. As can be seen in all ages, it usually occurs at a young age. The male to female ratio is 3: 1 and its prevalence is estimated to be 5% in men and 15-17% in women. According to WHO's list of common diseases, loss of functionality and disability, migraine attacks are in the fifth place in women and among the first twenty diseases in men. Therefore, it is very important to manage migraine attacks in the emergency room. When we look at the previous reviews on this subject, we can deduce that they are not always appropriate for emergency physicians, since most of the articles are quite long and detailed. Our aim in this review is to give enough information in the light of current information about migraine headache that emergency physicians will need.