Prophylaxis of Migraine in Children

SYNOPSIS
About 4 percent of school children suffer from migraine. To prevent attacks it is important to inform the child, the parents and the teachers about the nature of migraine, to prescribe a sound rhythm for the child and to try to remove the attack-provoking factors. It is not always necessary to use prophylactic therapy for migraine in childhood. However, if the attacks are severe and occur three or four times a month then the use of prophylactic drugs is worthwhile. In a pilot study cyproheptadine was given to 19 children aged 6 to 16 years with good effect. Pizotifen was also tried and gave the same good result. Thirty-two school children aged 7 to 16 years were admitted to a double-blind, single crossover propranolol vs. placebo study. The result was good, and side effects of these three drugs were benign.