Rectal use of ergotamine tartrate and caffeine alkaloid for the relief of migraine.

Abstract

IN 1894 Thomson1 recommended the treatment of periodic neuralgia of the head by a rectal infusion of tincture of ergot. Despite the reported success of this method the derivatives of ergot were not widely employed in the treatment of headache of the migraine type until 1928, when Tzanck2 used ergotamine tartrate for migraine in Europe; Lennox3 introduced it into this country in 1934, recommending both oral and parenteral administration. The rectal route seems to have been neglected until the past three years, when several observers4 , 5 reported the efficacy of ergotamine tartrate and caffeine alkaloid for migraine when used in the . . .