Pediatric Migraine Prescription Patterns at a Large Academic Hospital

Abstract

BackgroundHere we report the prescription patterns by drug type, age, and sex of patients at a large academic pediatric hospital. Because there are few guidelines based on outcome studies in pediatric migraine, physician treatment approaches in children vary. MethodsUsing the i2b2 query tool, we determined that over an approximately 4 year period, 4839 patients between the ages of 2 and 17 years were observed at Boston Children's Hospital for migraine with or without aura, 59% women and 41% men. ResultsThe most common medications prescribed to this population were sumatriptan, amitriptyline, topiramate, ondansetron, and cyproheptadine. ConclusionsOur findings support recent data regarding choices of medication in the pediatric population and additionally support current studies and future investigation into controlled trials in the pediatric population.