A Descriptive Review of Medication-Overuse Headache: From Pathophysiology to the Comorbidities

Effects of electroacupuncture on treatment-resistant chronic migraine with medication overuse headache: A 12-month follow-up case report

Background

Medication overuse headache (MOH) is a secondary headache disorder that leads to pronounced disability and decreased quality of life. Available therapeutic options for MOH are limited, and many are only effective in a subset of individuals. Although the existing evidence is limited, acupuncture may be an effective treatment option for MOH.

Case presentation

A 45-year-old Chinese woman presented to the Medical Acupuncture Department of Sanming Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital on April 11, 2022. Thirty-five years ago, she had episodic migraines. The frequency increased over time, however, and for the past 10 years she has had daily headaches. These headaches were characterized by daily persistent throbbing pain on the left side of the patient's head, accompanied by photophobia, phonophobia, neck stiffness, dizziness, and fatigue. Without painkillers, the patient rated her headache intensity as 9 out of 10 on a visual analog scale (0 = no pain, 10 = intolerable pain), and reported that the headaches lasted for up to 7 days or more. With painkillers, the headaches had a reduced intensity (5 of 10), but persisted. The patient had taken 1-3.5 compound aminopyrine phenacetin tablets daily for more than 5 years. Standard conservative therapy (patient education, medication withdrawal, and behavioral intervention) for MOH had failed to improve her symptoms. Before her visit, the patient had headache and engaged in short-term medication use on 30 days per month. The total monthly headache intensity score was 90. The patient's Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ) score was 33 points, her Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score was 24 points, and her Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score was 20 points.

Results

After 48 acupuncture sessions over 24 weeks, the patient completely discontinued short-term analgesic use and the monthly number of headache days and headache intensity score were both reduced by 96.67 % (from 30 to 1 and 90 to 3, respectively), with no adverse effect. Compared with baseline, the MSQ, HAMD, and HAMA scores improved by 45, 17, and 16 points, respectively. At 12 months, the patient's condition remained stable and her MOH had not relapsed.

Conclusion

In the context of the current literature and the present case, electroacupuncture shows promise for the long-term relief of chronic migraine with MOH when other treatments fail.

Medication-overuse headache: A pharmacovigilance study in France

BACKGROUND

Overusing medication for primary headaches or other medical conditions can lead to dependency and medication-overuse headache (MOH) as an adverse drug reaction (ADR).

OBJECTIVES

To analyse reports of ADRs associated with MOH recorded in the French national pharmacovigilance database (FPVD).

METHODS

This retrospective study selected all MOH cases reported in the FPVD from January 2000 to June 2023. A search of the High-Level Group Term "headache" was performed for drugs classified under ATC codes for the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Specific keywords were searched in report narratives to further reduce their number. Voluntary intoxication reports were excluded. Only MOH cases according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders or with a medical diagnosis of MOH were considered.

RESULTS

Among the 2674 reports associated with the HLGT "headache", for 649 ATC drug codes, only 234 reports correspond to MOH, primarily notified by physicians. The median age was 45 years (IQR: 32-56), with 74.4% females and approximately 61.0% having pre-existing primary headaches. In all, 53.4% of the reports were classified as serious. Among patients, 84.2% had an isolated "headache" as the ADR. One drug was suspected in 47.4% of cases, two drugs in 29.1%, and three or more in 23.5%. In total, 473 suspected drugs, corresponding to 104 active ingredients, were involved, including analgesics (63.0%), in particular, acetaminophen-containing drugs, opioids, triptans and ergots, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (12.7%). Antiepileptics and psycholeptics were found in 6.6% and 6.1% of cases, respectively. Drug withdrawal was successful in 84.6% of drug-discontinuation cases. Warnings about MOH are mentioned in the summary of product characteristics (SmPCs) for triptans, ergots, and certain acetaminophen-containing drugs, but not other drug classes.

CONCLUSIONS

Certain drug classes show a high reporting rate of MOH and caution should be exercised when prescribing these drugs. Notably, warnings about MOH must be mentioned in the SmPC of all concerned drug classes.

The effectiveness of agomelatine on headache severity and frequency in episodic migraine without aura; a parallel randomized controlled trial study

BACKGROUND

Migraine is a headache disorder that affects public health and reduces the patient's quality of life. Preventive medication is necessary to prevent acute attacks and medication overuse headaches (MOH). Agomelatine is a melatonin antagonist.

AIMS

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of agomelatine on the severity and frequency of migraine attacks.

METHODS

The study is a parallel randomized controlled trial with two groups of intervention and control. 400 patients were evaluated. Eligible individuals, including those with episodic migraine headaches without aura between the ages of 18 and 60 years who did not receive preventive treatment beforehand, were enrolled. Also, patients did not receive any specific medications for other diseases. Among these, 100 people met the inclusion criteria and entered the study. These subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The intervention group received 25 mg of agomelatine daily and the control group received B1. In this study, the effect of agomelatine on the frequency and severity of attacks, mean monthly migraine days (MMD), and migraine disability assessment (MIDAS), were assessed. The study was triple-blind and after three months, a post-test was performed. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.

RESULTS

A total of 100 patients were randomly assigned to either intervention or control groups. The prescriber physician and the data collector did not know about the allocation of patients to groups. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the headache frequency per month (t=-0.182, df = 98, p = 0.85), mean MMD (p = 0.17), headache severity (p = 0.076), and MIDAS (p = 0.091). After the study, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the headache frequency per month (p = 0.009), and mean of MMD (p = 0.025). There was also a significant difference between pretest and posttest in two groups in the headache severity (p < 0.001) and MIDAS (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Agomelatine can be used as a preventive medication for migraine without aura. It is suggested that agomelatine be studied in comparison with other preventive drugs for patients with migraine.

TRIAL RETROSPECTIVELY REGISTRATION

Trial Retrospectively registration= IRCT20230303057599N1. Date: 2023-5-24 The present study is a residency thesis approved by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.