Using a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled
study design, these researchers investigated the effectiveness of intravenous
acetaminophen (1000 mg) in the treatment of acute migraine attacks as
an alternative to parenteral application of lysine acetylsalicylate
or triptans. Migraine diagnosis was made according to the International
Headache Society Classification. Sixty patients were included in three
headache outpatient centers in Germany. In the acute migraine attack,
patients were treated intravenously with either 1000 mg acetaminophen
or placebo. The primary end point was pain-free after 2 hours. Secondary
efficacy criteria were pain-free after 24 hours or pain relief after
2 hours and after 24 hours. With regard to the efficacy criteria, 37%
of patients reported pain relief or painfree after two hours, 12 patients
after treatment with acetaminophen and 10 patients after treatment with
placebo. Out of these, 3 patients in the acetaminophen and 4 patients
in the placebo group were painfree. After 24 hours, 86% of the patients
reported pain relief: 24 treated with acetaminophen and 27 treated with
placebo. The results indicate, that 1000 mg intravenous acetaminophen
is not superior to placebo in treating severe acute migraine attacks.
Leinisch E, Evers S, Kaempfe N, Kraemer C, Sostak P, Jurgens T, Straube
A, May A. Pain. 2005 Sep 6.
PMID 16153780
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16153780&query_hl=12
Credit: PubMed, developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(NCBI) at the National
Library of Medicine (NLM).
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