Management of Pediatric Migraine Headache in the Emergency Room and Infusion Center

Migraine is a common disorder that starts at an early age and takes a variable pattern from intermittent to chronic headache with several exacerbations throughout a lifetime. Children and adolescents are significantly affected. If an acute headache is not aborted by outpatient migraine therapy, it often causes severe disability, preventing the child from attending school and social events. Treating the acute severe headache aggressively helps prevent prolonged disability as well as possible chronification. Multiple medications are available, mostly for the outpatient management of an attack and include the use of over‐the‐counter anti‐inflammatory medications as well as prescribed medications in the triptan group. These therapies do sometime fail and the exacerbation can last from days to weeks. If the headache lasts 72 hours or longer it will fall in the category of status migrainosus. Status migrainosus is described as a severe disabling headache lasting 72 hours or more by the ICHD3 criteria. Disability is a major issue in children and adolescents and aggressive acute measures are to be taken to control it as soon as possible. Early aggressive intravenous therapy can be very effective in breaking the attack and allowing the child to be quickly back to normal functioning. This article reviews what is available for the treatment of pediatric primary headaches in the emergency room.     

Inpatient Treatment of Status Migraine With Dihydroergotamine in Children and Adolescents

Objective.— To assess the effectiveness of aggressive therapy of status migraine in children and adolescents.
Background.— Inpatient management of pediatric status migraine and intractable headache is limited because of a lack of studies and guidelines. Adult treatment is often based on anecdotal experience, although a few controlled studies have been reported. Added to that is the discomfort of general pediatricians and neurologists in using available effective treatments in pediatric patients (such as dihydroergotamine: DHE).
Methods.— Charts of all patients admitted to the neurology service, at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center—Department of Neurology, for inpatient treatment for intractable headache/status migraine over a 6-week period were reviewed. Demographics, evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment used were tabulated. Data on the effectiveness of the treatments provided were evaluated. Thirty-two total consecutive charts were retrospectively reviewed during that period.
Results.— Upon discharge, 74.4% of the patients were headache-free. The mean severity of the pain upon discharge was 1.02 ± 2.22 (using the 0-10 pain scale).
Conclusion.— From our review, DHE is very effective in treating and aborting an episode of status migraine and should be offered to children and adolescent patients who have failed their usual abortive therapy to prevent further severe disability that mainly affects their schooling and social activities.     

二级综合医院儿科急诊病人的医疗模式探讨

目的探讨二级综合医院成人和小儿共享急诊留观室和ICU的医疗模式在小儿急救方面的应用。方法回顾性分析昆山市第一人民医院院近五年来共享急诊册观室和ICU的儿科病人以及NICU的患儿在就诊季节、死亡率、疾病谱、儿科急诊医护人员管理方而的特点。结果急诊观察室收治儿科病人占急诊总量的0．78％,对减少住院率、减少医疗费用、提高诊断准确性与缓冲急诊高流量等方面具有重要的意义;儿科急诊病人就诊有一定的季节性;该院共享ICU、NICU的死亡率与同级医院相比无显著差异性;根据该院儿科病人ICU疾病谱及治疗措施,成人和儿童共享急诊科完全能满足儿科急诊病人的需要.结论在二级综合医院中通过合理的管理,成人和儿童共享急诊观察室和ICU是可行的。     

Efficacy of sumatriptan in the treatment of migraine: a review of the literature.

Advanced practice nurses treat many patients, including children and adolescents, with migraine headaches. Management of headache episodes requires a delicate balance of prophylactic and abortive therapies. Sumatriptan has been used effectively to treat adult patients with migraine headaches, but its efficacy in children has not been established. Results of a literature review provide strong evidence supporting the use of sumatriptan in treating adults with migraine headaches. Some evidence also exists for using sumatriptan to treat migraines in pediatric patients. Open prospective studies used small convenience samples, thus limiting the external validity of the research findings. Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trials found conflicting results for the efficacy of sumatriptan in the treatment of pediatric migraine. Further research is needed to determine its efficacy in children.     

Tipranavir: a new protease inhibitor for the pediatric population

Highly active antiretroviral therapy can provide sustained viral suppression and a beneficial immunological response in both antiretroviral-naive and -experienced pediatric patients infected with HIV. While there have been many antiretroviral studies in adults infected with HIV, considerably less information is available in similar HIV-infected pediatric or adolescent patients. Tipranavir, a new-generation protease inhibitor approved for use in adults with resistant HIV strains, has recently been studied in HIV-infected children and adolescents. In this article, we summarize available pharmacokinetic, safety, tolerability and efficacy data obtained from children and adolescents treated with a pediatric tipranavir formulation.     

Pediatric headache

Headaches are frequent in children and adolescents and at times can be extremely disabling. Disability scales, such as the MIDAS scale, have been useful in helping follow adult patients. Modifications of this scale have been helpful in following pediatric and adolescent patients. Greater attention has been paid to epidemiology and classification of headache in children. Studies are being done on serotonin 1B/1D agonist for treating acute migraine, and this agent has been found to be efficacious despite a high placebo response. It is anticipated that FDA approval of sumatriptan nasal spray in adolescents is forthcoming. Despite advancements, there is no wonder drug. There continues to be a need for studying preventive therapies in a double-blind, placebo-controlled environment, and plans are under way for such studies. Many adult patients with chronic daily headaches report that their headaches began in childhood and adolescence. A better understanding of diagnostic criteria, early diagnosis, and more effective treatment may be the key to influencing the prevalence of headaches in adults. Continued research is the only answer to the questions raised by the most recent studies in this population.     

Chronic daily headache in children and adolescents

Chronic daily headache (CDH), an almost continual headache in the absence of organic pathology, is an exceptionally challenging type of headache to treat in children and adolescents. CDH has different expressions in children and adults; the different expressions may reflect several different etiologies or a developmental continuum. Although a positive family history predisposes children to develop headache, many environmental, biological, and psychological processes may share a role in the etiology. To date, no studies have examined the pathophysiology of CDH in children so that our understanding is presumed, rather than documented, and based primarily on extrapolation from adult studies. For some cases with migraine features, presumed mechanisms include a neurogenic inflammatory cascade, vascular reactivity, and serotonin, whereas for other cases, mechanisms may include pericranial muscle tenderness or musculoskeletal abnormalities, as noted recently for adults. A skilled and careful history is the first step to ensuring an accurate diagnosis for children with CDH. Pain assessment is an integral component of diagnosis and treatment. We need an objective measure of headache activity and an understanding of the factors that cause or exacerbate headaches for an individual child. Although many drug and nondrug therapies are available for treating children’s headache, we lack data about which therapies are best for children with CDH or its subtypes. The current principles guiding our management of CDH in children and adolescents are extrapolated from the existing literature on childhood headache, CDH in adults, and our clinical experience. A child-centered focus is particularly important in the treatment of CDH because it is not caused by an underlying disease or disorder.     

Intravenous Magnesium As Acute Treatment for Headaches: A Pediatric Case Series

Background

Acute i.v. treatment for pediatric headache varies widely.

Objectives

Our aim was to describe our experience with i.v. magnesium for acute treatment of pediatric headache.

Methods

We reviewed the electronic medical records of all patients ages 5 to 18 years old treated with a standard dose of i.v. magnesium for headache at our institution from January 2008 to July 2010. Charts were assessed for headache diagnosis, prior medications given, side effects, tolerability, and response to treatment. Individuals were excluded if they had an underlying unstable medical condition or a secondary etiology for headache. Only first encounters were included if the patient had multiple encounters.

Results

There were 34 episodes of children who received i.v. magnesium in the emergency department (ED) or hospital. Of these, 14 were excluded because the patients had complex medical conditions (n = 6), they were repeat encounters (n = 7), or known secondary etiology for the headache (n = 1). Of the 20 included charts (range 13–18 years old), 5 had migraine, 4 had tension-type headache, and 11 had status migrainosus. Thirteen were treated in the ED and seven as an inpatient with a standard i.v. dose of magnesium. Ten of thirteen adolescents receiving i.v. magnesium in the ED were admitted for further headache treatment but not for side effects, and three were discharged home. Side effects of treatment included pain (1 of 20), redness (1 of 20), burning (1 of 20), and decreased respiratory rate without change in oxygenation (1 of 20).

Conclusions

In our case series, adolescents given i.v. magnesium as an abortive therapy for headache experienced minimal side effects and further studies should evaluate for effectiveness.     

Uncontrolled headache induced by oxcarbazepine

Headache induced by acute exposure to a specific drug constitutes an idiosyncratic side effect. Metabolic imbalance appears as the leading aetiology, among several other hypotheses. Either primary headaches show a higher susceptibility to this idiosyncratic reaction or a drug-induced primary headache evolves in intensity and duration, becoming uncontrolled until the complete discontinuation of the drug in consideration. The goal of this study is to describe three patients diagnosed with migraine and epilepsy (both under control) who evolved into status migrainosus after the introduction of oxcarbazepine (OXC), as part of a switch off from carbamazepine (CBZ). Twenty-four to seventy-two hours following the switch, all patients developed intractable headache, despite the use of different symptomatic drugs. Complete recovery of the headache symptoms occurred only after OXC was discontinued. We discuss the potential mechanisms associated to OXC and status migrainosus, drug-induced headaches and uncontrolled headaches.     

HIV postexposure prophylaxis for children and adolescents

HIV postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) is now a well-established part of the management of health care workers after occupational exposures to HIV. Use of PEP for adults exposed to HIV after sexual contact or injection drug use in nonoccupational settings remains controversial with limited data available. There is even less information available concerning HIV PEP for children and adolescents after accidental needlestick injuries or sexual assault. The objective was to describe the current practice of and associated problems with HIV PEP for children and adolescents at an urban academic pediatric emergency department. A retrospective review of all children and adolescents offered HIV PEP between June 1997-June 1998 was conducted. Ten pediatric and adolescent patients were offered HIV PEP, six patients after sexual assault, four patients after needle stick injuries. There were two small children 2 and 3 years of age and eight adolescents. Of these 10 patients, eight were started on HIV PEP. The regimens used for PEP varied; zidovudine, lamivudine, and indinavir were prescribed for in seven patients and zidovudine, lamivudine, and nelfinavir for one other. All 10 patients were HIV negative by serology at baseline testing and all available for follow-up testing (5 of 10) remained HIV negative at 4 to 28 weeks. Only two patients completed the full course of 4 weeks of antiretroviral therapy. Financial concerns, side effects, additional psychiatric and substance abuse issues as well as the degree of parental involvement influenced whether PEP and clinical follow-up was completed. HIV PEP in the nonoccupational setting for children and adolescents presents a medical and management challenge, and requires a coordinated effort at the initial presentation to the health care system and at follow-up. The difficulties encountered in the patients in our series need to be considered before initiating prophylaxis. A provisional management approach to HIV PEP in children and adolescents is proposed.     

Management of acute,severe asthma in children

OBJECTIVE: To briefly present the current options available for the treatment of acute, severe asthma in children, with a special focus on emergency department and inpatient treatment, and to describe newer therapies that may aid treatment in the future. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SELECTION: A MEDLINE search (1966-May 2001) of the English-language literature pertaining to drug therapy of acute asthma was performed. Key word searches included acute asthma, albuterol, ipratropium, corticosteroids, magnesium, and theophylline. Additional articles from these sources and published national guidelines were identified. Relevant studies pertaining to current therapy of acute asthma in pediatric patients were selected; if there were minimal pediatric data, adult data were included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Asthma is a chronic, inflammatory disorder of the airways. Acute exacerbations can occur and are challenging to manage. Albuterol, ipratropium, and systemic corticosteroids have been shown to be effective in acute asthma exacerbations. Because some patients do not respond to maximal therapy, older therapies such as magnesium and theophylline are being reevaluated. Theophylline may have some therapeutic effect, but given its toxicity profile, it is unclear whether it offers any advantage over maximal beta(2)-agonist therapy. There are only minimal published data evaluating the use of magnesium in pediatrics, and most are small trials or case reports. Newer therapies such as ventilation strategies with heliox and intravenous leukotriene modifiers currently being evaluated may or may not prove to be beneficial in the future. CONCLUSIONS: beta(2)-agonists, ipratropium, and corticosteroids remain the most useful therapeutic agents for acute asthma exacerbations in pediatric patients. However, these agents are not ideal in all patients and, given the existing questions regarding safety and/or efficacy of available alternatives, more effective options are needed.     

A Review of Studies Evaluating Biofeedback and Relaxation Training in the Management of Pediatric Headache

Headache is one of the most common types of recurrent pain among children. Response to pharmacological treatment has been inconsistent, and there is caution about prolonged pharmacotherapy for headache in children. Behavioral therapies for the management of chronic headache have emerged as a significant option over the last decade. Initial studies summarized in two previous reviews of behavioral therapy for pediatric headache were favorable, but few controlled studies had been done. In the last five years, more studies, the majority with controlled comparisons, have been published. The present review summarizes and interprets the evidence from these studies. Behavioral treatment appears to be a potent alternative for the management of chronic headache in children.     

Children and adolescents with chronic daily headache

Chronic daily headache is a significant problem in children and adolescents. The goal of this review is to paint a picture of this malady. The epidemiology is unclear because definitions have not been uniform. Classification systems reflect what is known in adults. Because the disease duration and the transformation period are so different in children with this disorder, shoehorning children into adult criteria may be problematic. Nevertheless, this article presents an approach to diagnosis and treatment based on what is present in the literature, what has worked with adults, and the consensus among pediatric headache practitioners. Because there is little literature on this subject, the review ends with a series of questions for future study.     

Temporomandibular joint disorders

Temporomandibular joint disorders are common in adults; as many as one third of adults report having one or more symptoms, which include jaw or neck pain, headache, and clicking or grating within the joint. Most symptoms improve without treatment, but various noninvasive therapies may reduce pain for patients who have not experienced relief from self-care therapies. Physical therapy modalities (e.g., iontophoresis, phonophoresis), psychological therapies (e.g., cognitive behavior therapy), relaxation techniques, and complementary therapies (e.g., acupuncture, hypnosis) are all used for the treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders; however, no therapies have been shown to be uniformly superior for the treatment of pain or oral dysfunction. Noninvasive therapies should be attempted before pursuing invasive, permanent, or semi-permanent treatments that have the potential to cause irreparable harm. Dental occlusion therapy (e.g., oral splinting) is a common treatment for temporomandibular joint disorders, but a recent systematic review found insufficient evidence for or against its use. Some patients with intractable temporomandibular joint disorders develop chronic pain syndrome and may benefit from treatment, including antidepressants or cognitive behavior therapy.     

Management of intractable migraine in adults

The management of intractable migraine is not yet standardised. The first point in the emergency department is to eliminate severe cephalalgic non-migrainous disease, then to confirm the diagnosis of migraine. The second point is to determine trigger factors responsible for the refractory migraine--principally inadequate therapy, such as too low a dosage, inadequate treatment compared with intensity, and delayed treatment. Examples of inadequate classical treatments are presented for the following four main oral therapies: a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), analgesics, ergot derivatives, and triptans. When these drugs are ineffective, the following are used via injections: propacetamol, aspirin (lysine acetylsalicylate), injectable NSAIDs, and nefopam. These products differ from country-to-country. For example, morphinomimetics, phenothiazines and corticosteroids are widely prescribed in the US, while metamizole (dipyrone) is preferred in developing countries. The authors describe the different models of administration and the adverse effects of the substances. Finally, they describe the treatment of status migrainosus. Globally, triptans are underused in emergency departments. This review confirms the need for controlled trials of treatments for migraine in emergency departments in order to develop an international therapeutic consensus.     

Biofeedback Therapy for Pediatric Headache: Factors Associated With Response

Objectives.— The goal of this study was to measure the effect of biofeedback therapy on pediatric headache and to identify factors associated with response to biofeedback therapy. Background.— In the United States, 17% of children have frequent or severe headaches. Biofeedback therapy (BFT) appears to be an effective treatment for headaches in adults and is often recommended for children with headaches, but there are few data in the pediatric population. It is also not clear which patients are most likely to benefit from biofeedback therapy. Methods.— We examined the records of patients, aged 8 to 18 years old, who were referred to a pediatric BFT clinic for management of headache between 2004 and 2008. We extracted data regarding patient and headache characteristics, medication use, family history, and measures of depression, anxiety, and somatization. Chronic headache was defined as ≥4 headache days/week. Positive response to biofeedback was defined as a 50% reduction in number of headache days/week or hours/week, or ≥3‐point decrease in severity (0‐10 scale) between first and last visits. We analyzed the responder rate for those with episodic and chronic headaches and performed multivariable analysis to determine what factors were associated with headache response to biofeedback therapy. Results.— We analyzed records from 132 children who attended ≥2 biofeedback sessions. Median headache frequency dropped from 3.5 to 2 headache days/week between the first and last visits. The response rate was 58% overall; 48% for chronic headaches and 73% episodic headaches. In multivariate analysis, ability to raise hand temperature by >3°F at the last visit and use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were associated with a positive response, and preventive medication use was associated with nonresponse. Anxiety, depression, and somatization were not significantly associated with response to biofeedback therapy. Conclusions.— Biofeedback therapy appears to be an effective treatment for children and adolescents with both episodic and chronic headaches. Further study is warranted to compare biofeedback with other treatments for chronic pediatric headache. Use of SSRIs appears to be associated with a positive response to biofeedback therapy, but the reasons for this relationship are unclear and merit further study.     

Behavioral management of childhood headache: a pilot study and case history report

Many chronically recurrent disorders of children and adolescents are often unresponsive to standard medical therapy. The Stress and Headache Management Clinic was established as a prototype behavioral medicine clinic to provide integrated therapeutic modalities. Using biofeedback and relaxation/mental-imagery techniques, 119 patients with the chief complaint of recurrent headache were evaluated. This paper describes the use, application, and efficacy of behavioral techniques for the management of headache in children and adolescents. Relevant treatment factors in behavioral treatment of pediatric headache are also discussed.     

Emergency department treatment of migraine,tension, and mixed-type headache

The complaint of headache is frequently encountered in the emergency department, but most patients with cephalalgia have a benign etiology for their pain. At least 90% of patients presenting with headache are diagnosed as suffering from benign vascular or muscle-tension (for example, migraine, tension, or mixed-type) headache. There is no consensus on the ideal therapeutic approach to these patients. Classically utilized narcotic therapy suffers from problems with efficacy, relapse, and potential for abuse and addiction. However, other agents have successively proved to be imperfect as well, despite the many therapeutic approaches that have been suggested in the medical literature. While no one drug has emerged as clearly superior for treatment of acute benign headache, recent investigations have clarified the role of certain therapies. This review is intended to familiarize emergency physicians with the latest information on most recommended therapeutic approaches to the patient with headache.     

Complementary,alternative, integrative and dietary therapies for children with Crohn’s disease – A systematic review

Children with diagnosed inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease are faced with the daunting prospect of living with a chronic disease. Besides psychological stress, children are suffering from therapy side-effects; in particular, corticosteroid therapies are problematic in the growth phase. This highlights that there is a need for less aggressive alternative therapies for children as well as adolescents living with such chronic conditions. Elemental diets are widely used and accepted therapy options. Several pediatric Crohn’s disease patients also use complementary, alternative and integrative therapies to reduce or avoid drug therapies. To survey such therapy options and their efficiency and safety, we performed a systematic literature search and screened databases (Cochrane Library, EMBASE, OvidSP, PubMed, CAMbase, CAM-QUEST, Anthromedics) from their inception to December 2019. In total, seven of 1439 studies fulfilled search criteria. Six RCTs and one retrospective controlled trial investigating elemental diets (Flexical, Elemental 028), semi-elemental diets (Pregomin), polymeric diets (Modulen IBD), whole protein based formulas, and ω-3 fatty acid supplementation were found. Data indicated that diet therapies were equal to or more effective than corticosteroid therapies when used to treat Crohn’s disease. Regrettably, we could not identify controlled studies investigating complementary, alternative and integrative medicine approaches. Our review provides an updated overview of controlled studies investigating dietary therapies used in the treatment of pediatric Crohn’s disease, and demonstrates that the current study situation does not reflect the actual use of complementary, alternative and integrative therapies. Therefore, clinical trials are necessary to estimate risks and benefits of such therapies. The review indicated that enteral diets and ω-3 fatty acid supplementation may be an effective alternative to corticosteroid treatments for children with Chron’s disease.