Abstract
Importance of the field: Cluster headache belongs to the trigemino-autonomic cephalgias and is one of the most devastating idiopathic pain syndromes. Despite its extreme severity and its prevalence of about 0.1%, little attention has been paid to this painful syndrome by either basic or clinical research.Areas covered in this review: All clinical trials on the acute and prophylactic drug treatment of cluster headache are reviewed, including review articles and book chapters.What the reader will gain: The treatment of cluster headache is based on acute and prophylactic drug treatment. Oxygen inhalation, subcutaneous or intranasal sumatriptan, and intranasal zolmitriptan are recommended to stop an attach. For prophylaxis, verapamil is drug of first choice. Other drugs efficacious in cluster headache are steroids, lithium, some anticonvulsants and methysergide. Recently, interventional procedures have been studied for the treatment of refractory cluster headache. In the future, new anticonvulsants and unconventional ways of immunotherapy should be evaluated.Take home message: In most cases, cluster headache can be treated sufficiently (i.e., with sufficient quality of life) by an individual concept of acute and prophylactic drug treatment.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
