Side effects of ergotamine |
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Authors: | WJ Meyler |
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Affiliation: | Department of Anaesthesiology, Pain Clinic, University Hospital, Groningen. The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Ergotamine has been used for many years in the treatment of migraine, although there is little formal clinical evidence that it is significantly more efficacious than placebo. A number of side effects associated with ergotamine have been reported in the literature, including myocardial infarction, ischaemia of limb extremities, and fibrotic changes. Long-term use has led to reported cases of ergotamine-induced headache, vascular reactivity, and subclinical ergotism. When the safety profile of this drug is considered, coupled with its debatable efficacy from a clinical review previously published, the resulting poor risk: benefit ratio brings into question the continued use of ergotamine as a migraine treatment and calls for better controlled trials of its efficacy, or lack of, in the acute treatment of migraine. |
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Keywords: | Ergotamine literature review migraine side effects |
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